Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Dr. Owens. Dr. Colleran might intervene in a moment, but I wish to make a final point and she can respond to the points generally. My last point relates to long Covid, which a number of people have mentioned today. Typically, in a work environment if one is out for a long period, one is referred to Medmark Occupational Healthcare and there could be certain screening barriers to somebody returning to work or remaining out of work. Are front-line staff encountering any of those barriers? Is it accepted that one may not present with antibodies but one still has the symptoms of long Covid? Is that generally accepted across all strata of the health service or are people being referred to Medmark Occupational healthcare, being scrutinised and having those barriers put before them?

The final thing I will say is that the vaccination of healthcare staff, across all spectrums, is important. There are ancillary or therapeutic staff who enable children with learning and physical difficulties to attend education as best they can. I was teacher until the general election. There are still many services, such as the child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS, that are not engaging with children online or face to face. It is not for our guests to solve but, as some of those staff are members of some of our guests' unions, we need to see those people out there and offering supports to children at this time.