Robert Dowds
Question:161 Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Taoiseach the numbers of people with disabilities known to be working in the private sector, in the most recent year for which figures are available. [29098/12]
View answerTuesday, 19 June 2012
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Written answers
The Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS) is the official source of employment estimates in the State. The QNHS identifies people as disabled if they indicate that they have one or more of a list of long-standing illnesses or difficulties. On this basis the estimated number of disabled people aged 15 years or over in the State in the first quarter of 2012 was 409,400 of whom 70,900 or 17.3% were in employment. It is not possible to reliably split this employment between the public and private sectors using information from the QNHS.
The National Disability Survey (NDS) in 2006 was specifically designed to collect more detailed information regarding the status of disabled persons. The definition applied in this survey was different to that used in the QNHS and, as such, estimates cannot be directly compared. There were an estimated 15,100 disabled adults in private households employed in the private sector in 2006 based on the definitions used for the NDS. This refers to adults whose disability limited or affected them before the age of 65. Results from the Census of Population for 2011 covering disability will be published on 28th June 2012. These results will be based on the same measurement of disability as applied in the QNHS.