Mayo charity calls on government to address pay parity in the disability sector

MAYO-based charity, Western Care Association have called on the Government to address the need for ongoing increased funding and pay parity in the disability sector.

Ahead of the specially convened Fianna Fáil Ard Fheis on Sunday, Dr Mary Boyd, CEO of Western Care Association, has highlighted a number of key issues that need immediate attention from the new government.

One area where Western Care Association is calling on the Government to urgently address is the need for ongoing increased funding to eliminate deficits and to ensure pay parity for all Section 39 and 56 workers in Mayo.

Dr Boyd stressed the importance of addressing pay parity for employees to aid both in recruitment and retention of the staff involved.

“There’s a critical need for access to funding for retrofitting the housing of people the Western Care Association supports, along with the provision of social and affordable housing for staff who have been priced out of the housing market and for the people that the Association supports. This is a major concern from a financial standpoint and these two issues alone would, in time, save the association a significant amount in energy costs and the cost of recruitment and training of new staff. These issues underscore the ongoing challenges in the social care sector, where financial constraints and staffing shortages are hindering the delivery of adequate support and services.”

Western Care Association provides support and services to children, young adults and adults with intellectual disabilities and autism and their families in CoMayo. They also provide a range of services including residential services, day services, family support services and social and recreational activities.

Western Care also highlighted that this funding shortfall jeopardises the delivery of services to vulnerable individuals and their families across Mayo. They also want the Government to address pay parity as it’s essential to retaining skilled staff and ensuring equality across the sector and if it is addressed over 1,200 employees in Mayo would benefit.

Additional priorities include improving access to services in order to reduce waiting lists and retrofitting housing stock that are less than an A2 BER rating.

Western Care claimed that €70,000 per house will be required to meet efficiency standards and they see this as an investment in the future efficiency of the buildings.

Barbara Clinton, Western Care Staff member and SIPTU shop steward, said that the staff on the front line are so frustrated as seen by Charlotte Fallon's interaction with An Taoiseach Simon Harris during the election campaign.

“There was lots of talk during the Government formation talks about parity of esteem between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. All we are calling for, as Western Care Association staff, is that we have parity of pay with our colleagues in the HSE and other organisations, who provide the same services at a different rate of pay. Hopefully this can all be sorted and that we don't have to ballot our members again as this causes such stress to the people we support as well as their families," she said.