Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Section 87 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 legislates for the occupational injuries benefit scheme for persons injured by an accident at work or caused by a prescribed disease due to the nature of their employment. The occupational injuries benefit scheme is a compensation and income support provided by my Department and, as Minister, I have the power to prescribe diseases under the scheme.

Covid-19 is not currently a prescribed disease or illness. Section 87(2) of the Act states that a disease or injury shall be prescribed for the purposes of this section in relation to any insured persons, where the Minister is satisfied that it ought to be treated, having regard to its causes and any other relevant considerations, as a risk of their occupations and not as a risk common to all persons.

In addition, the disease should be such that, in the absence of special circumstances, the attribution of particular cases to the nature of the employment can be established or presumed with reasonable certainty.

My Department is aware of the recommendation of the European Commission regarding Covid-19. The decision on whether to recognise an illness as an occupational illness is a member state competence and, in this regard, it should be noted that the European Commission has not made a recommendation about recognising long Covid as an occupational disease. Most member states have not recognised long Covid. The UK Department for Work and Pensions presented a report to the UK Parliament in November 2022, which concluded that long Covid should not be considered an occupational disease due to the lack of evidence and the evolving nature of the illness. However, I have consulted with other relevant Departments and Ministers on the matter and the responses received are currently under consideration. I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

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