Ms Imelda O'Donovan:

One of the things the Department asks is whether the patient has exhausted treatment options and what the prognosis is, but there is no prognosis for long Covid. That is another issue. When people are applying for a disability allowance or invalidity pension, the onus is on them to prove they have a disability and that it is likely to continue for at least 12 months. In the case of long Covid, people have absolutely no idea how long it will last, and that is a problem straight away. The prognosis side of things causes difficulties. People cannot prove they have exhausted every treatment because the situation is always evolving.