The Irish Congress of Trade Unions has today urged Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll McNeil to engage with healthcare unions in relation to the Special Leave with Pay Scheme for Healthcare Workers with Long COVID, which expired at the end of December.
The Scheme supported around 120 workers who contracted Covid-19 during the pandemic, and continue to suffer its effects.
The call comes after Pádraig Rice TD, Chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Health, wrote to the Minister expressing the Committee’s strong disappointment in the failure of the Government to address the issue. Deputy Rice stated that the expired scheme should be replaced “with a permanent scheme that recognises these workers’ needs, and indeed their sacrifice”.
Chair of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and General Secretary of the INMO, Phil Ní Sheaghdha said:
“The Special Leave with Pay Scheme catered for a relatively small number of people who made huge sacrifices during the pandemic. When the daily lives of those people are still being affected, well-meaning words from Government Ministers are simply not enough. Workers should not be faced with a loss of income for having done their jobs, particularly during such a difficult time for the country.
“We have consistently said that explanations given by the Ministers for Health and Social Protection for the failure to continue the Scheme are not acceptable, and I am encouraged that the Oireachtas Health Committee has reached the same conclusion. These workers stepped up and did their duty during the pandemic, despite the risk they faced at the time. It is not acceptable for the Government to abandon them now.”
"We are urging the Ministers responsible to engage with the trade unions representing these workers, and to commit to reinstating support for those who continue to suffer the consequences of protecting our communities during the pandemic."
