Paul Murphy Questions Long COVID's Place in COVID Inquiry
Paul Murphy asked whether the planned COVID inquiry will include long COVID and argued the state's pandemic decisions prioritised private profit over public health. He warned long COVID could become a mass disabling event, citing estimates that about 10% of COVID cases lead to long COVID and a paper suggesting 65 million sufferers worldwide.
Inquiry question
Murphy directly asked the Taoiseach whether the terms of reference for the COVID inquiry, which are being worked on, will explicitly include long COVID as an area for examination. He opened by saying the state may be compelled to issue an apology in future for decisions taken during the COVID crisis.
Long COVID scale and effects
Murphy said roughly 10% of those who get COVID are affected by long COVID and referenced a recent medical paper estimating 65 million people worldwide are now suffering from it. He described severe symptoms reported by sufferers - extreme fatigue, brain fog and heart problems - and warned that without different action this could become a mass disabling event.
Taoiseach response on terms
The Taoiseach replied that the terms of reference have not been reworded yet and that the inquiry is intended to examine the state's response to COVID, including public health actions and the economic response. The Taoiseach said it was unclear at this stage whether a commission inquiry is the right mechanism to examine long COVID but affirmed the issue "certainly won't be ignored."
Accountability and lessons for future pandemics
Murphy pressed the broader accountability question of whether decisions prioritised private profit over public health during the crisis. The Taoiseach emphasised the inquiry's purpose is to see what was done right, what was done wrong and what could have been done better, to learn for future pandemics.
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Teachta, one of the areas where the state may be compelled to issue an apology in the future is in relation to decisions that were taken during the COVID crisis. In particular, I would say the decisions to prioritise private profit over public health. In particular, I want to ask about a COVID inquiry, which Teachta has reported as saying that will be set up this year and the terms of reference are being worked on. And I want to ask whether those terms of reference will include the issue of long COVID. This is going to be, unfortunately, a growing issue. About 10% of all those who get COVID are then affected by long COVID. There was a recent medical paper which suggests that 65 million people are now suffering from long COVID worldwide. For some of those people, it is absolutely devastating, incredible levels of fatigue, of brain fog, of heart problems, all sorts of quite horrendous symptoms. And unless the world begins to act quite differently, this is the potential to be a mass disabling event. But the question is, Taoiseach, whether long COVID will be included in the terms of reference for the COVID inquiry. Just in relation to the question on COVID inquiry, we haven't re-termmed the reference for that yet. It's designed to be about the state's response to COVID, both in terms of the public health actions taken, the economic response, other responses, and then to see what was done right, what was done wrong, what could have been done better, and to learn for future pandemics. I don't know whether or not it would be appropriate to examine long COVID as part of that. It's a condition that is diagnosed, it's a post-firing syndrome, but whether a commission inquiry is the right way to look at that or not, I just don't know. I just don't know at this stage, you know, I can't say that at this stage. Certainly won't be ignored. Thank you very much.
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