Long Covid services funding
Deputy Francis Noel Duffy asked if the Government would fund long Covid research and GP training after a motion on the issue passed. The Tánaiste said that was the intention and placed long Covid in the wider context of post-viral syndromes.
Yesterday, a motion on long Covid health services was passed by the House.
There are issues with long Covid. I know the Government supported that motion. Will it be in a position to provide funding for research and GP training in that area going forward?
Comment on this
I thank the Deputy. That is our intention. We are still learning about long Covid. Many viral illnesses produce a post-viral syndrome. The vast majority of people who get the virus recover, but some develop a long-term illness. We need to see it in the context of other post-viral syndromes. More and more, we need to see Covid not as a separate illness but as one of many viruses from which people can develop post-viral illness that is long term. That is the context in which we hope to see it.