MINISTER FOR Social and Family Affairs Mary Hanafin has expressed concern at a sharp increase in the number of people claiming disability benefit which has coincided with the economic downturn.
Officials say numbers claiming the disability allowance are projected to rise from 92,000 to more than 100,000 this year, an 8 per cent increase.
The allowance, a weekly means-tested payment for people of working age, with a disability, is payment for people with an injury, illness or disability which is expected to last more than a year.
The payment has often been associated with relatively high rates of fraud in the past. For example, an investigation by welfare officials in recent years found that just 10 per cent of people claiming disability benefit for lower back pain were found to be eligible for payments for the condition.
Anecdotally, it has traditionally been regarded as easier to qualify for the disability allowance – worth €204 a week on the maximum rate – rather than unemployment benefit.
Speaking last week, Ms Hanafin said the issue of increases in the numbers claiming disability payments was a well-documented phenomenon during an economic downturn.
“There are increasing numbers and it’s not something I like to see. I know this is a world-wide issue, but an increase in disability allowance should not just be linked to a recession,” Ms Hanafin said.
Official figures released by her department, however, show that the numbers claiming disability allowance have been increasing consistently for a number of years, and not just during the downturn.
Between 2004 and 2008, the numbers in receipt of the disability allowance increased at an average rate of around 6 per cent each year.
In addition, the numbers in receipt of other disability payments, such as the invalidity pension, have been rising steeply in recent years.
This pension – paid to those over 60 who cannot work because of a long-term illness or disability, and are covered by social insurance – is expected to rise to around 55,100 this year. This compares with 41,530 in 2005, 46,485 in 2006 and 51,992 in 2007.
Disability payments in general cost the State in the region of €1 billion a year.
As part of a pilot programme by the department in 2003, a total of 1,532 claimants for disability payment on grounds of lower back pain were called for a medical examination before specially-trained doctors.
Following an independent medical assessment, some 900 claimants were found not to be eligible for the benefit. A further 197 claimants called before the medical assessors never turned up.
Follow-up projects in Dublin, Cork and Galway, which centred on a further 2,775 claimants for disability benefit on the basis of lower back pain, produced similar results in that about 10 per cent were found to be eligible.
The department has since moved to improve the monitoring of applications for disability allowance, including more rigorous medical assessments.
To qualify for the allowance, an applicant must submit a medical certificate from their general practitioner.
A medical assessor from the department examines the medical evidence submitted and, if necessary, asks the person to attend for a medical examination, to confirm if the medical conditions for the scheme are met.
