Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 February 2004
520 Mr. Pattison asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if her attention has been drawn to the miner’s chest compensation scheme in the UK; if she will consider introducing a similar scheme here; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5960/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraEmployment under a contract of service as a miner is insurable for occupational injuries benefit, OIB, under the Social Welfare Acts. Miners who are unable to work due to an incapacity arising from their employment may be entitled to occupational injury benefit for the first 26 weeks of their claim. If their incapacity extends beyond that period they may receive disability benefit subject to meeting the qualifying conditions for that payment.
Miners may be entitled to disablement benefit if they suffer a loss of physical or mental faculty as a result of an accident at work or a disease prescribed in legislation that they contracted at work. Medical assessments are undertaken in all such cases to determine the degree of disablement, which is calculated by comparison of the state of health of the applicant with a person of the same age and gender. The degree of disablement is expressed as a percentage loss of faculty and the compensation payable varies accordingly.
Chronic emphysema and bronchitis and/or asthma, now known as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, COPD, which have been contracted in the course of coal mining are not included in the list of occupational injuries prescribed diseases.
The position in the UK is that their equivalent of our OIB may be paid to coal miners who have worked underground for at least 20 years and who are diagnosed as having definite pneumoconiosis with considerable lung function loss. The effect of prescribing COPD was not to confer entitlement to people who did not already qualify for the UK equivalent of OIB but rather, to enable a higher rate of payment to be made to some pneumoconiosis sufferers in certain circumstances.
In Ireland, if COPD is present in cases where miners develop pneumoconiosis as a result of their occupation the disablement award will reflect this.
