Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

There was a powerful briefing yesterday in the audiovisual room by Long Covid Advocacy Ireland and Long Covid Kids. We heard about the devastating impact of long Covid on some of the hundreds of thousands of people who were affected by long Covid in this country, the children who were unable to attend school every day and the adults unable to work.

It is almost a year since this Dáil passed a good motion on taking long Covid seriously, but the people affected feel, understandably, that the Government and the HSE are not taking long Covid seriously. The question is whether the Government is going to do that. Covid is not going away, unfortunately, and every additional infection that someone gets increases their chances of ending up affected by long Covid. Will the Government take long Covid seriously? Will it launch an awareness campaign to alert the public of the dangers of contracting Covid and the possibility of ending up with long Covid? Will it ensure that there is training for GPs to ensure appropriate diagnosis and management of long Covid, and will it provide financial support for those affected by long Covid, including healthcare workers and others?

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