I raise a very important issue with the Minister of State. While I am grateful to her for being here, I am conscious that in her role she will not have decision-making capacity on it. It is disappointing not to see the Department of Health represented by either the senior Minister or a junior ministerial colleague.

A cohort of healthcare workers has been in receipt of special Covid leave with pay, which is essentially their basic salary, over the past four to five years in recognition of the fact that they contracted the virus at the peak of the pandemic in high-risk settings such as hospital wards, often without adequate PPE, when much of the rest of the workforce was protected by working from home directives. They have paid an enormous price in the form of persistent long Covid symptoms such as debilitating post-exertional malaise. That is a level of physical depletion the average person just cannot imagine, for instance, being unable to lift a cup of tea after what most people would consider mild exertion or having to go back to bed with exhaustion after dropping their children to school.

Long Covid typically involves a range of symptoms, including nerve pain, vertigo and brain fog, which have a major impact on a person’s capacity to work or carry out basic tasks. Treatments for long Covid are extremely limited and for some people their symptoms have not improved. I know this because I worked in such a clinic in Cork. The best we can hope for with treatments so far is, generally, the management of symptoms and not their alleviation or cure. Despite the sacrifices these healthcare workers made on all of our behalf, they have faced the loss of their financial security each year since becoming unwell as their unions have had to battle it out with the Department of Health in the WRC and the Labour Court. They have been on a cliff edge regarding their financial security as they approach the end of each term of the special Covid leave with pay. This has added a huge amount of additional stress to their lives.

These workers now face the loss of their income a few days after Christmas this year, when they will be placed on the standard public service sick leave scheme. What this means in practice is healthcare workers, mostly women, having to retire in their 40s or 50s on medical grounds and some not being able to pay their mortgage as a result.

This is huge financial stress on top of the many challenges they face every day just carrying out basic tasks. The Government keeps emphasising that it has extended the pay arrangement several times, as if the healthcare workers should be grateful, and that the hand of generosity can only extend so far instead of acknowledging that they sustained a serious workplace injury and should be compensated. Many were infected in early January 2021 following the so-called "meaningful Christmas" in which restrictions on movement were crudely lifted by the Government against public health expert advice. They were essentially cannon fodder in the context of that reckless decision, where many people died unnecessarily and these workers’ health and physical functioning suffered lasting damage. It is heartless of the Government to cast these healthcare workers aside and rip away the one basic financial security they had, with no clear reasoning. I am asking that special Covid leave with pay be extended for six months to give time for a proper consideration of long Covid as an occupational injury for this cohort of healthcare workers.

I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. I am taking this question on behalf of the Minister for Health. The Minister once again acknowledges the extraordinary role our healthcare workers played during the pandemic, as do I. They went far beyond the call of duty working on the front line, treating Covid-positive patients, and doing so in the early days when the protections we now take for granted were not yet in place. Their courage and commitment can never be forgotten. The Deputy has described well the price some of those workers have paid for that.

In July 2022, a special scheme was introduced to provide support to eligible public health sector staff who developed long Covid. This was a temporary, exceptional measure, unique to the health sector, designed to acknowledge the risks faced by staff working in high-exposure environments before PPE, vaccination and widespread community transmission were established.

The Department has advised that there are approximately 159 employees still in the scheme. Most of these staff have been supported with full pay for almost five years. The Department of Health has consistently worked to ensure that these staff are looked after and has requested that the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation agree to extend the scheme several times, as the Deputy mentioned, since its introduction. Following a Labour Court hearing in June of this year, a final extension was recommended. The scheme will now run until 31 December 2025, when it will formally conclude. The Department wants to be clear that the conclusion of this scheme does not mean that supports will end. Staff who remain unfit to return to work will transition seamlessly into the public service sick leave scheme, ensuring continuity of care and financial protection. Under that scheme, staff will receive full pay for three months, followed by half pay for three months. They will 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.

Beyond financial supports, staff will also be entitled to reasonable accommodations to assist them in returning to work. This may include modified duties or adjusted work patterns while rehabilitating. These measures are designed to ensure that staff are supported not only financially but also practically as they recover and reintegrate into the workplace.

While some EU countries recognised Covid-19 as an occupational illness, this applied to Covid-19 itself, not long Covid. To the Department's knowledge, no country provided sustained full pay for long Covid comparable to Ireland’s special scheme. 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.

The Department wants to assure the House that, while the special scheme will conclude at the end of this year, the supports available to staff will continue under established public service arrangements.

It is despairing to receive that response. It is so completely out of touch with the reality of these workers' circumstances. There is no security that comes from being on standard sick leave. That is just a pathway to medical retirement. There is no rationale given as to why this basic financial support is being ripped away at this arbitrary cut-off date. The health condition of these workers has not changed. As social protection Minister in the previous Government, Heather Humphreys, according to reports from 2024, was vigorously opposed to making Covid an occupational illness, saying it would be impossible to determine whether someone had contracted the virus in the workplace. This was despite the fact that most European countries had done so, with the exception of Greece and Ireland, and despite the glaring contradiction of providing special Covid leave with pay to the cohort of workers I am speaking of on the basis that they contracted the virus at work. It was the then Minister's party leader at the time, Leo Varadkar, who dispensed with public health advice, opening the floodgates on the virus circulating through the community and infiltrating healthcare settings to an overwhelming degree in those dark weeks of late December 2020 and early January 2021. These workers are now living with the lasting impact of that.

There is no doubt that these workers contracted Covid in the workplace. They were caught up in clear outbreaks in healthcare settings while the rest of the country’s workers for the most part were able to work from home. There is a clear contradiction in the Government’s recognition of long Covid as occupationally acquired, demonstrated in its granting of special Covid leave with pay to date and its crude termination of that scheme at an arbitrary cut-off date of 31 December as these workers continue to experience significant disability arising from that condition.

It was utterly callous, miserly and incoherent of Heather Humphreys to deprive these workers of a basic level of financial security as she sailed off into retirement on a gold-plated pension. Her comments are part of an overall pattern of gaslighting that these workers have experienced in occupational health departments, as well as with some medical practitioners and now, unfortunately, this Government. It looks from this response like we cannot expect any degree of compassion or reason on this issue from the Minister of State's colleagues. I implore her to take this back to the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill. There is no justification for what is being done here.

I hope the Deputy will understand that I will not comment on his remark regarding former Members of this House who are unable to explain their rationale or whatever. However, as he asked, I will bring this to the attention of the Minister for Health, as it has been. I just happen to be answering tonight on her behalf.

I again acknowledge the extraordinary service of our healthcare workers during the pandemic. The special scheme for long Covid was an exceptional measure introduced to recognise the unique risks faced by staff in those early days. It is important to say that it has provided sustained support for almost five years, a level of protection unmatched in any other sector. I personally agree that it is warranted. As the scheme concludes on 31 December, staff will not be left without support. They will transition automatically into the public service sick leave scheme with full access to the supports that provides, including temporary rehabilitative remuneration and the critical illness protocol. Reasonable accommodations will be available to assist all staff in returning to work. This approach at least tries to ensure fairness and equity across the public service while continuing to provide meaningful protection for those affected. Our priority remains to safeguard staff welfare, uphold the principle of equal treatment and ensure that those who gave so much during the pandemic are supported to recover. I reassure the House that the Department of Health will continue to work closely with the HSE, staff representatives and with colleagues across Government to ensure these supports are delivered effectively and compassionately.