Neasa Hourigan (Dublin Central, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

In some ways, the matter I want to talk about - the ongoing issue of long Covid and how it affects healthcare workers - is related to the pressure that we see in emergency departments and hospitals because it speaks to the staffing issue we are experiencing in the health service. By "healthcare workers", I do not just mean nurses and doctors. I also mean healthcare assistants, cleaners, housekeeping staff, catering staff, porters and every person who was expected to go to work when we were all told to stay at home, mind ourselves and cut down on our contacts. They did not just "go to work" during the middle of a global pandemic - they went into the epicentre of that pandemic. They went into places where we knew people had Covid and sometimes did so in the knowledge that the protective equipment we had given them was not adequate.

When we talk about long Covid, we are not talking about people who experience Covid and then take six, eight or 12 weeks to recover. We are talking about people who are still experiencing very severe symptoms after two or three years. We do not have a particularly good track record in this country of dealing with post-viral illness. Even though it can be nebulous to diagnose, it is very real for many people. People experience things like debilitating fatigue, difficulty getting out of bed or getting through the day, brain fog, joint pain, muscle pain, insomnia, which seems to be an issue I hear about repeatedly, and vertigo. Those are probably symptoms that all of us have experienced to some degree at some stage in our lives. However, if a person is experiencing that all day, every day, it impairs his or her ability to work.

We know that a disproportionate number of healthcare workers are experiencing long Covid. Certainly, their unions would be well able to speak around how many people are experiencing it. These people have acquired long Covid in conducting their duties as healthcare workers. In minding and looking after us, they have contracted a long-term illness that is affecting their ability to live their lives and do their work. On top of that, it is now affecting their financial security, the security of their long-term employment and their general well-being.

We recognise in this country that when you contract an illness or a condition through your work, the State should support you. We have a system of recognising prescribed diseases or illnesses, as set out in the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005. In section 87, it sets out two criteria. The first criterion is that the illness has been contracted as a risk during their occupation, not as a risk that is common to all.

We all accept that those who were working in emergency departments, in wards, in hospitals or in primary care, and were dealing with people who were suffering from Covid-19, were at more risk than the rest of us who got to stay at home.

The second criterion is that the illness can be reasonably attributed to their occupation. I do not think we can argue with that. People who looked after us during Covid got Covid themselves. We know that other countries have an occupational injury scheme for healthcare workers who are disproportionately affected by long Covid. France, Italy, Denmark and Sweden are doing it. It is being introduced in countries throughout Europe. The EU Strategic Framework on Health and Safety at Work 2021-2027 highlights long Covid and states that it is something we should be looking at. It does affect healthcare workers. It is a real thing. It is very easy to dismiss and it is hard to diagnose, but that does not mean that people should be put at financial risk and insecurity and employment risk in the long term for minding the rest of us.

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