Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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891. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 253 of 15 December 2022, if she will provide updated figures on the claimants in each time period; the number of EIB claims received and the individuals claiming EIB up to the end of September 2022; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1265/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Enhanced Illness Benefit (EIB) was a form of Illness Benefit that was payable to self-employed persons or an employee who was required to self-isolate or had been diagnosed with Covid-19.  The enhanced rate of Illness Benefit came to an end on Friday 30 September 2022.

It is important to note that a person may have received Enhanced Illness Benefit on more than one occasion since the payment was introduced, and thus have more than one claim for Enhanced Illness Benefit.  EIB was payable for up to 10 weeks where a person was diagnosed with Covid-19.  In a case where a person continued to be ill beyond 10 weeks, standard Illness Benefit could be paid for an extended period, based on the person’s continued eligibility.

Latest figures from my Department show the number of EIB claims and individual recipients in Table 1, and the duration of EIB claims in Table 2.

Table 1: Number of EIB Claims and EIB Recipients

Table 2: EIB claim durations

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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892. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of persons in receipt of illness benefit and disability allowance, respectively, due to long-Covid; her plans to consider long-Covid as an occupational illness for front-line workers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1266/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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My Department provides a suite of income supports to those who cannot work due to illness or disability.  It is important to note that eligibility for these payments is generally not dependent on the type of the illness or disability but on the extent to which a particular illness or disability impairs or restricts a person’s capacity to work.  

Illness Benefit is a social insurance payment provided by this Department for those who cannot work due to illness of any kind.  It is payable for a maximum of two years.  Disability Allowance is a means-tested social assistance payment for people between 16-66 years of age who cannot work due to a long-term disability. 

People who suffer from Long Covid may be certified by their doctor under a range of different conditions corresponding to their main symptoms or underlying illnesses.  For this reason the Department is not in a position to report on the number of people in receipt of these income supports due to Long Covid. 

Covid-19 or Long-Covid-19 do not constitute a prescribed disease or illness as set out in the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 as it does not meet the criteria laid down in the Act.  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—

(a) 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, and

(b) it is 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 recommendations of the European Commission in this matter and is consulting with other relevant Government departments on the matter.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.