Literature Review of Disability Payments

The literature collated in this review helped inform an NDA submission on the review of long-term disability payments by examining various systems of disability payments internationally and in Ireland. While there is a noteworthy literature base on sickness and disability related issues, literature on disability benefits is comparatively limited, due to a lack of suitable data combining information on the labour market with comprehensive measures of health and disability.

The research literature jurisdictions most often cited for comparative purposes are Australia, Finland, France, Iceland, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK. However, there are demonstrably different systems within these studies, some of these jurisdictions have different disability benefit systems for different groups, whereas others have the same system for the entire population of working age.

This review of literature was one source of evidence for the NDA submission to a public consultation by the Department of Social Protection on Disability Payments.