Covid-19 Pandemic Supports
Seanad Éireann — 2026-05-14
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Joe O'Reilly (FG), Labour Panel

I welcome to the House my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Dillon. He is speaking on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill. He will convey my sentiments to her, which I also propose to do in other forums.
It is never inappropriate to thank the healthcare workers of this country for their valiant, courageous and selfless service during the Covid-19 pandemic. It is never inappropriate and should be done on any occasion. Phil Ní Sheaghdha, the general secretary of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, INMO, and president of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, ICTU, put it very well on the excellent "Prime Time" programme on 28 April when she said that we applauded the healthcare workers at the time of Covid and we should support into the future those who are unfortunate long-term victims.
To turn to the specific issue, long-term Covid manifests itself through fatigue, breathlessness, brain fog, persistent cough, chest pains, muscle and joint pains, loss of taste and smell, and cardiac conditions. It is not contingent on the gravity of the Covid in the first instance. In other words, somebody could have had mild Covid and still have long Covid.
Healthcare workers were at high risk during the pandemic. Studies show that close contact, inadequate protective equipment, particularly early on, and an inability to distance, because it was not possible to distance in their work situation, increased the risk. Indeed, the figures are startling. Some 10,000 healthcare personnel and social care workers contracted Covid at some point. Twenty-three healthcare workers lost their lives. More than 120, and up to 150, INMO members and social care workers remain affected with long Covid. I thank Ms Karen Eccles, who is the health and safety officer of the INMO, for supporting me with some data here. That many workers remain affected with long Covid. They want to but are unable to go back to work. Moving them to sick leave, which is proposed to happen on 1 June, will affect their mortgages, the education of their children and all the normal bills and expectations they have. It is a small number of people who are still affected at this point. A number of people with long Covid have recovered and gone back. The numbers now are quite low so the potential bill is not a big one.
Those people have financial needs. They need medical support. Without this recognition, their symptoms can be wrongly labelled and they can be considered malingerers, if people remember that term from our childhood, when, in fact, it is an unjustified tag. Recognition of their condition will result in the establishment of appropriate safety management systems for further assistance. If it could be recognised as an occupational injury, which it is, as is the case in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, South Korea and Taiwan, and we would like to think we are up there with those countries, then they could get the benefits therefrom. Those countries apply the presumption of occupational exposure leading to the injury for high-risk occupations, unless, of course, it is proven to be a bogus claim, or whatever.
Providing sick pay will allow a focus on recovery and can affect retention of healthcare workers and morale. Sick pay for healthcare workers is essential to maintaining a healthy workforce, ensuring public safety and the overall well-being of those who have been affected. Sick pay for victims of long Covid will provide financial security. The expectation of it will give job satisfaction for all because with the hantavirus recently, we do not know what is coming in the future and it is important that nurses and all healthcare workers feel they will be protected. It will affect morale. It will help to attract talent, which is an issue at the moment. There is a compelling case here. It is not a big bill. It is a moral issue. It is a responsibility of the State to deal with the issue.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-05-14/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:57+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-14