SECTION 39 WORKERS in the charity and voluntary sectors will receive salary increases linked to the public sector pay deal, the government has confirmed. 

A proposed public service pay agreement was reached on Wednesday following talks at the WRC. The deal provides for pay increases totalling 10.75% over its lifetime, running until March 2029.

Section 39 organisations are charities and organisations contracted by the State to provide health services. They work across a number of areas, including disability and primary care.

Following a long-running pay and conditions dispute, a 2025 Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) decision contained a commitment to include workers in the community and voluntary sector in future public sector pay agreements.

A spokesperson for the Department of Enterprise told The Journal that once ratified, the new public service pay agreement “will apply, as appropriate, to workers in Section 39 organisations covered by the March 2025 WRC Agreement”.

“The existing agreement for Section 39 provides that funding will be adjusted to allow for equivalent general round pay increases under the new public service pay agreement. The necessary funding will be provided through the annual Budget process,” they said.

“As Section 39 organisations are independent employers, the increases are not applied directly by Government to individual workers. Implementation of the pay adjustments will be a matter for the relevant sectors and employer organisations, in accordance with the existing funding and service arrangements.”

Historically, the pay for Section 39 workers was linked to HSE staff, but during the economic crash, these organisations were instructed to impose pay cuts in line with those made on HSE staff.

However, during the recovery, HSE staff pay was restored, but additional funding to restore the pay of Section 39 organisation staff was not provided.

Niall Shanahan, a spokesperson for public service union Fórsa, which also represents Section 39 workers, said that it is “entirely appropriate” the workers benefit from the new public sector pay deal.

Speaking to The Journal, Shanahan said: “Workers in Section 39 employments face the same cost-of-living challenges as their public service counterparts, and provide absolutely essential services to the State, notably in care and disability services.”

“They were cut adrift of the link to public service pay as a direct result of the financial crash after 2008. The battle to re-establish that link was hard fought by Fórsa and SIPTU, and the impact on Section 39 employments was that they struggled to retain staff who could avail of better rates of pay in other sectors.”

“It is therefore welcome that they would benefit from the terms of this agreement once it is ratified in union ballots.”