Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I commend the Regional Group and Deputy Naughten for his continued work on long Covid. We are three years into this pandemic. The world did not know the term "Covid-19" until three years ago. Since then, this virus has claimed millions of lives, affected hundreds of millions of people and caused economic chaos across the world. Many of us who got Covid-19 have recovered fully, thankfully. A vaccine has been developed which has been hugely helpful in the fight against the pandemic. A whole cohort of people who got Covid-19 in the last three years, however, have not recovered fully.

As a member of the Joint Committee on Health, Professor Jack Lambert's critique of long Covid was a revelation to me and many others on the committee. In my naivety, I thought the symptoms of Covid-19 were mostly respiratory. As Professor Lambert said, cognitive and neurological symptoms can also be devastating to those who have long Covid and continue to suffer these symptoms.

The most important aspect of this debate is that people in this situation must be listened to and supported. This is the main thing in this debate. For too long those with illnesses such as fibromyalgia, myalgic encephalomyelitis, ME, or Lyme disease have been largely dismissed as having something that is largely in their own heads and been told they should just get on with things. Obviously, this is not the case by any means. In his critique, Professor Lambert laid out in bare terms that people are suffering physically and mentally in this regard. I got Covid-19 about four months ago.

Physically it takes its toll, but I cannot imagine dealing with those symptoms continuously for months on end. It must be most distressing on those who are in that situation.

For those who have long Covid, the main issue is support. There is hope. People who have long Covid do get better. However, there is a cohort of people for whom it lingers. That can be detrimental, not only to their physical health but also financially. They cannot go back to work and that is a significant impediment on their financial circumstances.

Not classifying Covid-19 as an occupational injury was a huge mistake by the Government. This should be an occupational injury. If one works in a medical setting - for example, if one is a nurse or doctor - one can get time off, etc., but if one is in a different setting, such as an educational setting, it can be much more problematic.

If there is something to come out of this debate - the Government has put these specialist clinics forward - it must be that there is quite a lengthy waiting period to see a specialist. The average waiting time is ten months. Given the situation, it is not good enough. If we listen to and support these people, the situation will be much better for those who are experiencing long Covid.

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