A Social Report for Ireland Volume II - the NESC Website

people with disabilities 253the OECD-18 average, it is still below the levels of the other countries shown:Denmark, Finland and the Netherlands. What is most notable, however, is the trenddirection – increasing for Ireland, while remaining stable or declining for the othercountries shown. 164Figure 9.8Disability Beneficiaries as a Percentage of theWorking Age Population (20-64), Selected OECDCountries, 2001-2007 165%12108641097658786 62020012002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007NetherlandsFinlandDenmark OECD 18 IrelandSource OECD (2008b: 54)Note Data are not available for 2007 for Denmark and OECD 18.The composition of disability payments expenditure in Ireland has changedsince the 1980s, with longer term payments now making up nearly two thirdsof expenditure compared to one third in 1982. The proportion of social insurancepayments to means-tested payments has also reduced, social insurance paymentsmaking up 67 per cent of payments in 2002, compared to 88 per cent in 1982. Overall,payments are fairly evenly distributed between those under 50 years of age andthose over 50. The gender breakdown reflects that of the general population. Thereis, however, significant variation between some of the payment schemes.164. The OECD provides a number of reasons for this trend in Ireland. The main reason given is the increased number of older people(under 65) in the population (there were just over 800,000 45-64 year olds in 2001, increasing to 950,000 in 2007). Associatedreasons are the extent of activation (which has been relatively low in Ireland) and a perceived increase in work intensity, resulting inabove-average stress levels being reported.165. Beneficiaries for Ireland include Disability Allowance, Invalidity Pension and persons on Illness Benefit for over two years.Beneficiaries for the other countries are: Denmark (Disability Pension), Finland (persons receiving statutory Earnings-related Pensionand/or National Disability Pension); Netherlands (Wajong, WAO and WIA).