Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 4 Dec 1991

Vol. 414 No. 1

Written Answers. - Incidence of Incapacities.

Michael Noonan

Ceist:

85 Mr. Noonan (Limerick East) asked the Minister for Social Welfare if his attention has been drawn to the analysis of incapacities of long duration disability benefit claimants published on page 146, of the Comptroller and Auditor General's Report for 1990; if the very wide gender divergence shown is a reflection of the incidence of these conditions in the population at large; if so if he will outline the medical evidence which supports the divergence; and if not, if he will provide any other explanation for the gender divergence.

Minister for Social Welfare (Mr. Daly)

I understand that there is no single comprehensive source of data on the incidence of different incapacities in the population at large.

In the event, people eligible for disability benefit are limited to those who are insured under the Social Welfare Acts, and therefore they differ from the population as a whole in terms of characteristics such as age, gender, work experience etc. which are likely to influence illness trends. Given these differences I do not consider that one can draw any conclusion as to the extent to which divergences in disability benefit claims by sex of claimant reflect the incidence of specific illnesses in the population at large.

In relation to disability benefit claimants generally, I would point out that the Comptroller and Auditor General's report commented that "the over-representation of women in the Irish Disability Benefit population is not unusual when compared to experience in both public and private schemes in Britain".