Covid-19 Pandemic Supports
Dail Éireann — 2026-03-26
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Paul Murphy (PBP), Dublin South-West

The Minister responded by saying that this does not mean the Government will not support workers. He said that staff may receive full pay for three months, which is correct but we are coming to the end of that, followed by half pay for a further three months. People have their childcare bills, their mortgages and the costs of just existing in this cost-of-living crisis. They have a lifestyle based on their pay and will not be able to survive based on half pay. The Minister went on to say that they have the option to apply for temporary rehabilitative remuneration. That is capped at 37.5% of salary. You go from full pay to half pay and then down to just slightly more than a third of pay.
There was a reference to the critical illness protocol, which "may provide supports for up to three years, where the relevant criteria are met." The problem is that many healthcare workers have been turned down for the critical illness protocol, with the HSE citing that long Covid does not meet the criteria. The employer needs to approve it. It can be dressed up in whatever way the Government wants but by shutting down the special scheme and not doing the long-term solution, which is making long Covid an occupational illness, it is throwing these workers who were on the front line, whose health was sacrificed for all our benefit and who put themselves at risk, to the wolves. We really are putting them in an awful situation.
On the rationale for not recognising long Covid as an occupational illness, it seems the Government makes a distinction between Covid and long Covid. The reason people have long Covid, however, is they got Covid, likely in the workplace. All illnesses are not treated equally. We have an occupational illness scheme that is different. As I said, if you contract HIV or hepatitis as a result of your work, you are treated in a certain way, as these are occupational illnesses. Long Covid should be treated the same.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-03-26/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:47+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-26