Replies to LegCo questions

LCQ19: Disability allowance

Following is a question by the Dr Hon Fernando Cheung and a written reply by the ecretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (June 29):

Question:

According to the Government's reply to my question on June 1, 2005, over half of the recipients of disability allowance (DA) are in the category of "any other conditions resulting in total disablement". In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) given that earning capacity is the key consideration in approving applications for DA, whether it keeps statistics on the number of DA recipients who are currently employed; if it has, of the number; if not, the reasons for that; and

(b) of a breakdown by the illnesses/disabilities suffered by the recipients on the number of cases, and their respective percentages, in the category of "any other conditions resulting in total disablement"?

Reply:

Madam President,

On the question raised by Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG, my reply is as follows:

(a) As DA is not means-tested, recipients are not required to inform the Social Welfare Department (SWD) of their employment situation. Therefore, the Administration does not have statistics on the number of DA recipients who are currently employed.

(b) SWD does not have further separate categorisation by nature of illness for those recipients grouped under the classification of "any other conditions resulting in total disablement". However, in order to provide some indication on the nature of illness or disability for this group of cases, SWD has examined a random sample of 500 such cases. The result is attached at Annex. It should be noted that only the most prominent feature of the illness or disability as indicated in the medical report is listed, as some DA recipients might have multiple illnesses or disabilities that would qualify them for DA.





Ends/Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Issued at HKT 16:34

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