Vol. 413 No. 5
208 Mr. Dennehy asked the Minister for Defence the reason a person (details supplied) in County Cork was forced, by virtue of a departmental medical examination, to leave a post where he had been employed for many years, taking into account the decision of a social welfare medical referee and appeals officer decision that he was capable of work within the meaning of the Social Welfare Act.
The Department of Defence considered the person in question unfit for work as a shipwright because he suffered from vertigo and could not work at heights. He was considered fit for, and capable of, other work, not involving heights. He declined to accept an offer made by the Department of an alternative position as a storeman. When certified as permanently incapacitated for the duties of his employment as shipwright, he retired on health grounds in January 1987 with a gratuity and pension.
Decisions on claims for disability benefit are matters for the Department of Social Welfare.
