asked the Minister for Social Welfare for the most recent year for which figures are available, the average number of days of disability benefit claimed by (i) men, (ii) single women and (iii) married women; if he has any views as to the cause of any disparity and if he has any plans to take action to reduce or eliminate such disparities; and in respect of the last full year for which figures are available the total number of days of disability benefit claimed in the quarter (a) April-June, (b) July-September, (c) October-December and (d) January-March.

In 1986 the average number of days of disability benefit by men claimants was 82.66 days and by women claimants was 104.59 days. A breakdown of duration by marital status is not available.

The latest available claimant profile is as follows:

If there are not available in the Department figures which distinguish between married women and single women, is the Minister aware there is great disparity between those two groups? Does he intend to take any action to explain that disparity and to reduce it?

The operations research section of the Department of the Public Service carried out a survey of the medical referee system and reported their findings in January 1986. One of the results of that survey was a recommendation that the referral system should focus its efforts on claims by reference to factors such as age, incapacity and length of time on benefit. It was shown that it was neither cost effective nor efficient to target groups on the basis of sex or marital status.

The survey also revealed that the rates of claim among unskilled and manual workers was high. It further highlighted the preponderance of married women in this category. One of the reasons for that would be that married women would have left work and come back into employment having to take jobs which were not well paid. Married women accounted for 46.7 per cent of those in the unskilled manual group and single women 40.8 per cent, as against 13.6 per cent of married women and 18.3 per cent of single women in the skilled white collar worker category. The Deputy will see that the biggest difference between the two categories covers married women — 46.8 per cent in the unskilled manual category and 13.6 per cent in the skilled white collar category. One has to bear these variations in mind when looking at the overall picture.

The time for questions has expired. May I have the permission of the House to deal with Deputy Bell's final question on the Order Paper? Agreed.