Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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911. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 358 of 14 September 2022, if she will now make a similar decision in line with a number of EU member states in relation to the EU ACSH recommendation to recognise Covid-19 as an occupational injury under the occupational injuries benefit scheme for front-line health workers, in view of the fact that the majority of EU member states have now accepted same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1598/23]

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.  

Occupational Injuries Benefit is an income support provided by my Department to those who got injured at work or travelling to and from work, or who contracted a prescribed disease at work. 

Covid-19 does 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 recommendation of the European Commission in this matter and is consulting with other relevant departments on the matter.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.