The long-running dispute concerning pay for Section 39 and other voluntary sector workers came under the spotlight in the last days of the election after an encounter between a SIPTU member and Taoiseach Simon Harris in Kanturk, County Cork on 22nd November.
The encounter in which the canvassing Taoiseach seemed to curtly dismiss the SIPTU member’s issues with a lack of action for workers such as herself, in relation to pay parity with those fulfilling similar roles directly employed by the HSE, was captured by RTÉ cameras and soon went viral on social media.
In a meeting between SIPTU, Fórsa and INMO and Government officials on 26th November, in the wake of the encounter, the union side said they were told that officials were aware of the attention the exchange between the member and the Taoiseach had received but that their mandate had not changed and there was no additional funding available to meet the long-outstanding pay claim.
Following the talks, SIPTU Health Divisional Organiser, Kevin Figgis, said: “There are people speaking out of both sides of their mouths here. When a microphone is put under their noses there are politicians saying how much they want to see something done for the Section 39 workers. We have been led to believe previously Minister Roderic O’Gorman is in favour of sorting this out and in recent days we have both the Taoiseach and Tánaiste say they want to see it resolved.”
He added: “If that’s the case then they need to provide their officials with the mandate they require to resolve this and we will return to the table.”