Marie Sherlock (Dublin Central, Labour)
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76. To ask the Minister for Health the steps she is taking to protect the incomes of front-line healthcare workers who continue to suffer from long Covid and who are in receipt of the special scheme of paid leave, which is due to expire in the coming weeks; if she plans to protect these workers by extending this scheme or recognising long Covid as an occupational illness; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [64383/25]

Marie Sherlock (Dublin Central, Labour)
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My question relates to the special sick pay scheme for Covid sufferers in the health service. As the Minister knows, it is expiring at the end of this year. We spoke about this in June. The Labour Court ruled that it should be extended to the end of the year. What interventions is the Minister making to ensure those 120-plus workers have decent financial support into 2026 in recognition of the fact they acquired this illness in the workplace in the course of their work?

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this with me again. We should always acknowledge the extraordinary role, as the Deputy has done, of our healthcare workers and the role they played during the pandemic. They went far beyond the call of duty. Treating Covid in a front-line way at that time was an exceptional thing to do.

In recognition of that, especially from 2020, a temporary special scheme was introduced in July 2022 to support eligible staff who were affected by long Covid, in particular, in the public health sector. This was a scheme that no other sector had, which was important and appropriate. The scheme was designed to support those who had worked in high-risk environments, particularly before PPE and vaccinations were widely available and community transmission became more prevalent. At present, about 159 employees, as I understand it, remain on the scheme, the majority of whom have been supported with full pay for almost five years.

My Department has consistently worked to ensure these staff were looked after. At my Department's request, the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation agreed to extend the scheme several times since its introduction. Following a Labour Court hearing in June of this year, a final extension was recommended to run until 31 December 2025, when it will formally conclude. Importantly, that does not mean all supports will end. Staff who remain unfit to work will move seamlessly into the public service sick leave scheme, which I appreciate is different but will ensure some measure of continuity of care and financial protection. Under that scheme, staff receive full pay for three months, followed by half pay for three months, and then have the option to apply for temporary rehabilitative remuneration, which can provide up to a further 547 days of paid leave. In addition, the critical illness protocol may provide supports for up to three years.

I am aware that the Minister for Social Protection has reviewed the EU recommendation on recognising Covid-19 as an occupational illness. It has been determined that Covid-19 does not meet the criteria required for recognition under the social welfare Acts.

Marie Sherlock (Dublin Central, Labour)
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Every long Covid sufferer out there will acknowledge that this scheme has been extended. They are very grateful that it has been kept going until now, but the reality is 159 healthcare workers are out there, including nurses, healthcare support workers, social workers and those working in mental health institutions, who face the prospect of a dramatic drop in income because of a condition they acquired in the workplace. Ireland, alongside Greece, is the only EU member state not to recognise long Covid. What will the Minister do to champion the rights of healthcare workers? As she knows, the temporary rehabilitation remuneration, TRR, scheme will only give workers just over a third of their full pay, at 37.5%. Some of these workers hope to go back into the workforce eventually. Some may never, but they should get the recognition they deserve for the illness they acquired in the workplace.

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I appreciate what the Deputy is saying. I will make a couple of points in response. The public health sector recognised the risk that staff faced and because of that introduced a scheme that no other sector had.

It was appropriate that it did, but it is important to state that so people have a full understanding of what was done. Eligible healthcare workers have had full pay for five years, which is important. The provisions now provide paid supports for a number of years beyond this current period. Recognition of Covid as an occupational illness falls within the Department of Social Protection. The Deputy has alluded to other EU countries. Many EU countries recognised Covid-19 as an occupational illness, but not necessarily long Covid. I am open to correction, but it is not clear to me that any country sustained full pay for workers suffering from long Covid in the way Ireland did with its public health workers through the special scheme. I am open to correction, but that is the information I have. It is important to set out how Ireland tried to treat its care workers in contrast to Europe and for the duration it has.

Marie Sherlock (Dublin Central, Labour)
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I do not think anybody is suggesting that full pay is sustainable into 2026 and beyond, but what should be sustainable for a small amount of money is a recognition that it is an occupational illness, with a new scheme put in place. The reality is that the science in 2021 suggested that people would be fully over long Covid at this stage. In June, I said I believed the Department was splitting hairs between Covid-19 and long Covid. The science and medical research are well established now in confirming what long Covid is. I know that are many long Covid sufferers and their families who are watching this debate are asking the Minister, with the rest of Government, to champion this such that it will be recognised as an occupational illness and a new scheme will be put in place in 2026.

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I recognise the sufferers of long Covid and the change for 159 people who have been receiving full pay and are going onto a different scheme. While there are supports available on that scheme and its duration is also considerable, it is a change and I recognise that. My Department has championed the extension of that scheme, which enabled them to have full pay for as long as they did, on a number of occasions with the Department of public expenditure. As we thought that would end in June, there has been an additional six-month extension. That is in recognition of the work they did, the significance of long Covid and the impact it has on their lives. As the Deputy has stated, it is not feasible to sustain that in perpetuity and there has to be a transition to a different scheme. That is simply the way it is, and we are trying to put those supports in place for as long as possible.