185. Deputy Steven Matthews asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to calls from staff and management in organisations (details supplied) regarding pay, contracts and job security; if his Department can engage with the Kildare and Wicklow Education and Training Board directly on this issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31191/22]

186. Deputy Steven Matthews asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to calls from staff and management in an organisation (details supplied) regarding pay, contracts and job security; if his Department will engage with these service providers on these issues directly; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31192/22]

Minister of State at the Department of Health Deputy Frankie Feighan:

I propose to take Questions Nos. 185 and 186 together.

The Department of Health provides €1.5m per annum to community-based drug and alcohol services under the remit of the Bray Drug and Alcohol Task Force. The Kildare Wicklow Education and Training Board (KWETB) and the HSE act as the channels of funding for these services. Of the above amount, KWETB administers in the region of €573,860 to four frontline drug and alcohol projects.

Employees of drug and alcohol projects are in the majority of cases employed and contracted by voluntary drug and alcohol services and are subject to the relevant employment legislation/regulations in force. The Department of Health has no role in relation to the pay and conditions and job security of the employees of projects funded through KWETB or the HSE.

It might be helpful to clarify the situation in relation to pay restoration for section 39 agencies, funded by the HSE. Under section 39 of the Health Act 2004, the HSE provides financial assistance to organisations by means of a grant. Section 39 legally underpins the provision of services similar or supplementary to a service that the HSE may provide.

It should be noted that staff in section 39 organisations were not subject to the provisions of FEMPI legislation and therefore did not receive the cuts that were applied to the pay of public servants. They were not and are not party to the Public Service Agreements and are therefore not covered by the pay restoration provided for in these Agreements. In October 2018, an agreement was reached by the parties at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) in relation to a process of pay restoration for staff employed in Section 39 organisations who met certain criteria, rather than types of individual workers that are employed in them. Only organisations who received in excess of an agreed, specified amount from the HSE by way of the Service Level Agreement process were included. It must be acknowledged that Section 39 organisations are voluntary bodies and that their terms and conditions of employment, once in line with employment legislation, are strictly between the employer and the employee. Consequently, it would not be appropriate for the Department of Health or the Minister of Health to comment on terms and conditions of employment within the voluntary sector.

Pay restoration is absolutely limited and only applicable to those included in the initial WRC agreement. It is confirmed that there is no scope to revisit the eligibility criteria for the process and that from a Departmental point of view, the process has reached a final resolution.

I appreciate the financial challenges facing community-based drug and alcohol services. To increase access to and the provision of such services, I have established the community services enhancement fund, with an allocation of €2 million, which will be distributed through the HSE community healthcare organisations using a population-based resource allocation model, in conjunction with drug and alcohol task forces.

Question No. 186 answered with Question No. 185.