A government minister vigourously opposed making Covid-19 an occupational illness saying it would be impossible to figure out whether somebody had contracted the disease in work or not.
In discussions with the Department of Health, Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys said Ireland should not follow the lead of nearly all EU states in giving Covid-19 special status under employment law.
A letter to Health Minister Stephen Donnelly last July said that up to now a scheme for occupational illness had only been used in more unusual cases where a person had suffered injuries including for example loss of a limb or an eye."For example, anthrax is prescribed for occupations in which the person has contact with infected animals or animal products," she wrote.
"The issue of designating a disease as an occupational illness for social welfare purposes extends beyond the health and care sectors into other sectors," she added. He said frontline workers in the health sector had to work directly with Covid-19 positive patients and workplace transmission"could be assumed" in those circumstances.
Business Coronavirus Work Heather Humphreys Stephen Donnelly
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