Disablement Benefit

Disablement Benefit is paid if you lose certain physical or mental abilities as a result of something that happens to you because of your work, or while you are travelling to or from work.

This benefit is paid as a lump sum or a regular pension, depending on how disabled you are, its degree and the length of time the injury or illness is expected to last.

To qualify for this benefit, you must have worked and paid social insurance (PRSI) contributions at class A, B, D, J or M and lost physical or mental ability because of:

• an accident at work
• a commuter accident on a direct route between your home and workplace
• contracting a listed disease at work

Your payment depends on the degree of your disablement, which will be medically assessed. If you are assessed as being disabled by less than 20% of normal ability, Disablement Benefit will normally be a lump sum.

The size of the lump sum varies depending on the degree of disablement and how long you expect to be disabled. For assessments of 20% upwards, we will pay you a pension.

If you have 100% disablement, your personal pension is €275 per week. For cases between 20-90% disablement, your personal pension is as follows:

Injuries or diseases sustained since 1 January 2012 can only result in payment where the level of disablement is at least 15%. Before then, payment could be made where the level of disablement went from 1% to 100%.

If you are receiving a Disablement Pension and are permanently incapable of work as a result of your work-related injury or disease, you can claim Incapacity Supplement.

If you are getting Disablement Pension and are so seriously disabled as a result of your work-related injury or disease as to need someone to help you daily at home to attend to your personal needs, you may be entitled to a Constant Attendance Allowance. The allowance is paid to the person with the disability and is €261 a week.

If a specific person is caring for you, they can qualify for the Carer's Support Grant.

You will be paid from the fourth day of your disablement, as long as you do not claim Injury Benefit. If you do not claim in time you may lose some benefit.

If you are unable to work after the accident or disease you should first claim Injury Benefit.

Before Injury Benefit payments finish, you should claim Disablement Benefit if you are still unable to work due to accident or disease. If you do not claim within 3 months of the expiry of your Injury Benefit claim, you may lose some benefit.

If you have suffered some loss of ability as a result of the accident or the onset of disease, but you are still able to work, you can still claim Disablement Benefit. You should do this as soon as possible and within 3 months of the date of the accident or the onset of the disease.

To apply, fill in the application form at the bottom of the page, or pick it up from your local:

• Intreo Centre
• Citizens Information Centre

Return your completed application form which is at the bottom of this page to:

Operational guidelines describe the processes and procedures that staff in the department follow when carrying out their work.

Operational Guidelines: Occupational Injuries Benefit - Disablement Benefit