Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputies and I take the points made on public awareness, ventilation and clean air. There is a winter vaccination programme and I encourage people to avail of the vaccine over the coming weeks and months. The Government continues to support the roll-out of the national service for long Covid, with €2.2 million in funding for the implementation of the model of care approved for 2022, which trebled to €6.6 million for 2023.

The interim model of care was developed by a group of clinicians across a range of specialties and disciplines, including leadership and representation from primary care, older persons, respiratory medicine, chronic disease, infectious disease, mental health and neurology. As part of this, a number of long Covid and post-acute Covid clinics are operational and seeing patients. There are challenges and it is important to make tweaks and respond to the needs of people.

Estimates of the proportion of people who go on to experience long Covid-type symptoms vary considerably in the international literature. As this is a relatively new condition, there are still considerable unknowns relating to the prevalence and duration of symptoms and the impacts of factors such as virus variant type, vaccination status and the interplay of underlying medical and social conditions with post-Covid reported symptoms.

The development of effective therapeutic options for patients suffering from long Covid poses significant challenges. Many of the proposed interventions for people with long Covid symptoms do not yet have sufficient evidence to support them and overall, effective strategies that address the multifaceted nature of long Covid remain elusive. Future research investigating the effectiveness and safety of interventions is required, and a large number of trials are currently ongoing. A recent HIQA report advised that in the absence of strong evidence to support the effectiveness of interventions for long Covid, a holistic symptom management approach should be used to support those living with long Covid, including medical assessment and referral to the appropriate specialist. In the few seconds I have remaining, I encourage people to avail of the Covid vaccine. I will pass on the response to Deputies. I note the considerable concerns they have brought here today.

See this speech in context