The number of boarded out individuals was halved between 2004 and 2012, according to the National Statistics Office.

People receiving some form of invalidity pension dropped to a total of 4,945 in 2012 from 9,313 eight years earlier.

The reduction in beneficiaries meant that expenditure on invalidity pensions dropped to €24.6 million from €35.8 million over the period under review.

The figures form part of the NSO’s publication ‘Social security benefits: a locality perspective’.

Although the publication does not delve into the reasons for the drastic reduction in beneficiaries, this may be the result of a concerted effort to tackle benefit fraud and tighten the criteria for boarding out individuals.

Alarm was raised at the steep increase in boarded out individuals

In 2006, then social solidarity minister Dolores Cristina had piloted a law that gave new powers to the Benefit Fraud Investigation Directorate and made the boarding out process more stringent.

At the time, alarm was raised at the steep increase in boarded out individuals who received an invalidity pension.

The figures show that the number of beneficiaries of an invalidity pension was halved across all regions.

But an analysis carried out by Times of Malta shows that Gozitans seemed to have a higher predisposition towards invalidity.

In 2012, while in the five regions in which Malta is divided beneficiaries of invalidity pensions accounted for about one per cent of the population, in Gozo boarded out individuals accounted for 2.5 per cent.

The pattern followed that witnessed in 2004 when Gozitan beneficiaries accounted for 4.5 per cent of the region’s population whereas those boarded out in Malta ranged from 1.9 per cent in the western district to 2.5 per cent in the southeast.

Gozo has most invalids

A breakdown of beneficiaries by locality shows that the top 10 towns and villages with the highest concentration of invalids were Gozitan both in 2004 and 2012.

The 2012 figures show that Xewkija, with 113 beneficiaries, had the highest concentration (3.6 per cent) when compared to the locality’s population.

At the top of the league table, Xewkija took over from Għasri, which ranked first in 2004 with almost six per cent of its population receiving an invalidity pension.

On the opposite end, Swieqi registered the least concentration of boarded out people in 2012 with a meagre 0.3 per cent of its population receiving some form of invalidity pension.

The bottom rung was occupied by Mtarfa in 2004 when 0.6 per cent of the people were boarded out.

The invalidity pension – in its various permutations depending on the individual’s status and condition – is payable to persons deemed permanently incapable for full time or regular part time employment.

Invalidity down

ksansone@timesofmalta.com