Long Covid is the title given to a range of illnesses that have left previously healthy individuals who have not recovered from Covid infections with no quality of life. These patients once led busy professional and family lives, but they are now in some instances bedridden, unable to eat and unable to communicate. Despite the severity of their condition, many are being denied medications and treatment that, while they would not cure them, could help to manage their symptoms and improve their daily lives.

While health experts confidently advised that most people would recover over time, I have published data, based on a self-reporting national survey that I commissioned over the past 18 months, which paints a very different picture. The incidence of long Covid symptoms has remained stubbornly constant over that period, with a rate of 6% of adults reporting that they are suffering from these post-Covid symptoms. The poll data commissioned from the Ireland Thinks polling company, highlights the continued prevalence of these debilitating effects four years after the initial onset of the pandemic. The data indicates that more than 61,000 adults continue to suffer from the symptoms associated with long Covid for more than two years after contracting the disease. The most recent poll last month indicates that 27% of those with long Covid symptoms have had them for more than two years and that a further 28% of adults have been struggling with these symptoms for more than a year.

These figures clearly show that the HSE's long Covid clinics are failing tens of thousands of patients. Many clinics remain understaffed and, therefore, are not fully operational. Instead of a centre of excellence approach, it has become a potluck, pick and mix of services with no apparent specialised training in understanding and treating patients. Despite all of this, there have been some very positive reports from patients about individual doctors and some multidisciplinary supports, including occupational therapy and psychology. Unfortunately, these are the exception rather than the rule. The interim model of care in operation in these clinics is now 32 months old and has had zero updates. The HSE committed to establishing clinical guidelines in line with HIQA recommendations last year in order to achieve some consistency for patients, yet these clinical guidelines have not materialised. We need to ensure that long Covid patients are not forgotten and that they receive the care and support they need to manage their symptoms and improve the quality of their lives.

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue and for his long-term commitment in respect of it. He has consistently raised it in the House on a number of occasions. The Government continues to support the roll-out of a national service for long Covid. In 2022, about €2.2 million was provided for the implementation of the model of care. That trebled to €6.6 million in 2023. Now, €8.8 million has been allocated for 2024. There are six long Covid clinics and six post-acute Covid clinics operating nationally. These are staffed by consultants in the areas of infectious disease, respiratory medicine, psychiatry and neurology, as well as allied health professionals and clinical psychologists. St. Vincent's University Hospital, Beaumont Hospital, Tallaght University Hospital, St. James's Hospital, Cork University Hospital, University Hospital Galway and University Hospital Limerick have long Covid clinics. The post-acute Covid clinics operational under the model of care are located in the Mater Hospital, Tallaght University Hospital, St. James's Hospital, Cork University Hospital, University Hospital Galway and University Hospital Limerick. The HSE is working with Letterkenny University Hospital for a more definitive timeline around its anticipated launch date. The HSE also advises there is a tertiary neurocognitive clinic in St. James's Hospital led by a consultant neurologist with a background in neurocognitive disorders. That facility is accepting referrals from long Covid post-acute clinics around the country.

The Deputy spoke about a poll he commissioned. I have not seen the details of the polling or the methodology used. I do not know, for example, if it has been extrapolated from the poll that there are 60,000 people involved. In any event, there is the issue of how to develop effective therapeutic options for patients suffering from long Covid. The health service is still advising that this is very problematic and poses a number of challenges because the pathophysiology, which is the physical and biological abnormalities in the body that occur because of the disease, is not yet clearly understood. No evidence-based treatment options exist at present for long Covid, which has resulted in the use of a symptom-management approach, which mainly includes medical assessment and referral to the appropriate specialist.

The HIQA review, as the Deputy said, was commissioned and the results were published in December 2022. Monitoring of international data and research continues. The HSE has undertaken an epidemiological survey, FADA, which was launched in March last year. The results are due later this year. That survey will perhaps provide an up-to-date accurate insight into the prevalence of long Covid in the Irish population and risk factors for developing long Covid and will inform service development. The HSE is engaging with GP representatives and patient groups including Long Covid Ireland, a patient advocacy group, on service development.

In respect of children, diagnosis and care are provided by GPs and existing referral pathways within paediatric services. The evolving evidence in the context of long Covid in children is again being monitored by the HSE. The challenge is to try to understand the impact of this disease in the first instance and then to utilise existing research more effectively and quickly in terms of treatment options and a more comprehensive service for patients with long Covid.

In respect of children

The poll results also raise another issue of concern. It indicates that those aged between 55 and 64 are twice as likely as any other age group to state they have been managing the symptoms of long Covid for more than two years. This needs to be investigated further. Despite requests for patient involvement and feedback to the existing clinics, this has not happened. The latter has resulted in clinics failing to meet the needs of those with long Covid symptoms. This is clearly reflected in the poll numbers I have published. I call on the Government to work in tandem with the HSE, patients and front-line clinicians to expedite the delivery of a national action plan on long Covid that will include a revised model of care for patients, allocate funding to enable specialist clinics to become fully operational and recruit specialist clinicians across the health service.

I am not sure if the Deputy has shared the data, methodology and so on he possesses with the HSE. It is important that this should happen in order that it can carry out a full assessment. It would be helpful to the HSE, although it is doing its own comprehensive epidemiological survey. Covid has always been a disease that affects older age groups more than younger age groups. That was a feature of the impact of Covid on people. The older cohort was the more challenging one.

That is not the position with long Covid, which is more challenging for younger people.

The Deputy is saying that those aged between 55 and 64 are twice as likely to still be managing the symptoms after two years. That is relatively younger. I am probably in that category myself, so I had better be careful what I say. My sense is that it is going to take a bit more to understand this. Apart from a national action plan, I would like to see more research commissioned by ourselves, work on clinical trials and stuff like that around Covid. That is an important dimension we should now be embarking on.