Budget row erupts over pay for social service workers

By Juno McEnroe and Stephen Rogers

Disagreement over pay for health and social care workers threatens to overshadow the Coalition’s budget preparations.

A row erupted at the Cabinet this week over why judges are getting salary top ups and nurses are in line for special allowances but employees in those sectors are being denied restoration of pay.

Section 39 workers are threatening to strike this month. Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe was confronted by Disabilities Minister Finian McGrath over the workers’ pay cut during the crash.

Section 39 employees are not public servants, but their employers are grant-aided by the HSE to provide services mainly in the health and social services sectors. Traditionally their pay has been linked to rates in the public service.

The row comes as the Government and Fianna Fail, which supports it in power, commenced tense Budget talks yesterday. At least €800m in extra money next year is being divided up between services and tax measures.

Cabinet sources confirmed that Mr McGrath pushed his Fine Gael colleagues to agree to pay restoration for section 39 workers.

The 13,000 workers are preparing for industrial action up to strike after talks on pay restoration recently collapsed at the Workplace Relations Commission.

While they experienced the cuts implemented in the recession years, there has so far been no sign of them securing the newly-agreed increases secured by trade unions for their public sector members.

Mr McGrath wants the restoration of pay for section 39 workers addressed as part of spending considerations for the coming year.

“He took a strong line, there was a big row,” a Cabinet source said, describing the exchange between Mr McGrath and Mr Donohoe.

The disabilities minister was said to be particularly incensed that the Cabinet this week agreed on pay restoration for judges, in line with rolling back emergency pay cuts introduced in the crash.

New levels for judges appointed prior to 2012 have increased the chief justice’s salary to €247,443 and the High Court president to €229,896 while a Supreme Court judge will get paid €215,860. Cabinet also received a report recommending that nurses’ allowances are increased by 20%.

Mr Donohoe says section 39 workers’ pay is a health matter but also told reporters this week that efforts were ongoing to resolve the pay concerns at the WRC. If strikes go ahead, this will impact on vulnerable users in health and social care in HSE-funded groups, such as Rehab. Section 39 employers want to restore pay but they cannot without more funding.

The standoff between Mr McGrath and Fine Gael ministers comes as budget talks begin.

Fianna Fáil wants affordable housing, reductions in hospital waiting lists, and social welfare increases while Fine Gael wants more cuts to the USC for workers and big capital projects.

Meanwhile, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said his offer for talks to renew the confidence and supply deal with Fianna Fáil was open.

Fine Gael wants the support pact talks with the opposition party before the budget. He denied trying to orchestrate a snap general election. Speaking yesterday, he said: “I would like to set a date for an election in the summer of 2020 to give us political stability, to remove any uncertainty about when an election may or may not be held”.

But speaking going into budget talks in Dublin, Fianna Fáil’s Michael McGrath signalled why his party will not negotiate any new deal yet: “Our overall assessment of the confidence and supply agreement will be somewhat influenced of course by the outcome of this budget.”