Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The matter of recognising Covid-19 as an occupational disease has implications beyond my department. I am in consultation with other relevant departments and Ministers, and the responses received are under consideration.

My Department is aware of the recommendation that the European Commission made in 2022 regarding the prescription of Covid-19 as an occupational illness. However, the decision on whether or not to recognise an illness as an occupational illness is a Member State competence. It should be noted that recognition confers very different entitlements in different countries.

It is important to state that the European Commission has not made a recommendation about recognising long-COVID as an occupational disease and most member states have not recognised long-COVID. The UK Department of Work and Pensions presented a report to the UK parliament in November 2022 which concluded that long-COVID should not be considered an occupational disease due to the lack of evidence and the evolving nature of the illness.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.