Fórsa wants section 39 workers and agency staff to get the same protections as HSE employees during the coronavirus crisis.

Earlier this week the union raised the issue with HSE management, and strongly urged the retention of admin workers currently working in the health sector on agency contracts.

Fórsa’s head of health Éamonn Donnelly told the HSE that agency staff have vital skills that the health service needs in the crisis. “We’ve told the HSE that agency staff should simply retain their employment status and be treated the same as permanent workers during the emergency,” he said.

The union has also urged the HSE to bring staff currently employed in section 39 agencies – independent organisations that get public money to deliver vital services – into the mainstream system.

“Our health and social services depend on these people, but some of their organisations are under threat of temporary closure in the economic fallout of the crisis. If they disappear, it will put further stress on the HSE and voluntary hospitals.

“We need a high-level policy decision to protect these agencies and the people that work for them,” he said.