At least three in every 10 Irish workers would not have the income to sustain their current standard of living if they were out of work for a long period because of illness, according to a survey published yesterday.

A TNS mrbi (formerly the Marketing Research Bureau of Ireland) study shows that overall, 38 per cent of Irish people have not insured their incomes against serious illness.

A statement released yesterday detailing the results said that 30 per cent of those surveyed believed they would not have adequate income to sustain their standard of living if they were unable to work for a long period because of serious illness.

At the same time, a further 5 per cent of respondents were not sure if they would be able to keep up their current standard of living in those circumstances.

Commenting on the results, Mr John Walsh, head of marketing and sales at Royal Liver Assurance, which commissioned the survey, said there was evidence that consumers were confused about the exact nature of serious illness cover.

"This is reflected in the fact that a high number of people surveyed believe they have it, but industry figures don't seem to back this up," he said. "The actual figure of those without cover therefore is likely to be significantly higher than our figures show." He added that more information needed to be made available to consumers about serious illness cover.

The survey found that should they fall ill, 84 per cent of respondents ranked financial security for their family as very important. However, just 1.5 per cent of adults took out serious illness cover between 1998 and 2001.

Official figures show that almost 20,000 Irish people developed cancer every year between 1994 and 1998.

TNS mrbi carried out the survey last July among a nationally representative sample of adults in the Republic, and specifically among those working or the chief income earners in individual households.