Covid-19 Pandemic Supports
Dail Éireann — 2025-12-16
============================================================

Marian Harkin (IND), Sligo-Leitrim

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.

---

Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2025-12-16/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:28+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-12-16