Irish Wheelchair Association (IWA) calls on the Government to make disability a priority and deliver on their commitment to resolving the pay issues affecting Section 39 organisations, like IWA. In October 2023 an interim agreement was reached at WRC with a view to returning to negotiations to achieve pay parity with HSE grades for similar roles. The renewed call comes after talks between government, union and disability sector representatives failed to come to a resolution yesterday with government representatives advising unions they had “no mandate to address the issue of pay parity.”
Thousands of people with disabilities across Ireland rely on IWA’s vital services and have repeatedly come out in support of their personal assistants’ calls for pay parity. Alan Fay is one such person who stated passionately, “I call for pay parity because we can’t live without IWA staff. They are vital to our lives, and they do an amazing job.”
The failure to resolve pay issues is undermining the critical services that IWA and the wider disability sector, delivers on behalf of the HSE. “We continue to support our employees in their call for equal pay with their HSE counterparts. It is only fair and just that they get equal pay for equal work. Our employees support people with disabilities to live independently in their communities and go above and beyond the call of duty. The reality is that these same dedicated people are also feeling the pressures of the cost of living increases. The Government made promises over a year ago to have meaningful engagement with the sector around pay parity and they need to deliver on their promises. This issue can’t wait any longer to be resolved, people are suffering due to the inaction”, stresses Ann Marie O’Grady, CEO, Irish Wheelchair Association.
With just a couple of days to go until polling day, many of the main parties have protested that they get disability, understand the lived experience and that it is a key issue in their party manifestos, but IWA are calling on those in power to take action and prove that they are focused on disability and care about people.
To continue to allow this issue to go unresolved is untenable. The significant disparity in pay rates with those doing the same work within the HSE is feeding the recruitment and retention crisis in the Disability Healthcare sector and ultimately it is the country’s most vulnerable people who suffer as a result.
IWA are calling on people to please email their candidates prior to polling day tomorrow asking them to prioritise disability. You can do this with ease using the page linked below.
