89% of people who receive Disability Living Allowance (DLA) have said they were 'satisfied' with the service they receive from the Social Security Agency.

The majority of respondents (83%) felt that the government was doing enough to help them lead a more independent life.

But 75% said accessibility was the biggest problem encountered on a daily basis.

Child DLA recipients were most likely to spend the benefit money on activities and social outings to help improve quality of life, while working age and pension age recipients generally used the benefit for things like heating the home.

Discrimination or stereotyping was regularly experienced by a third (32%) of respondents in the under 16 age group.

Only 3.3% of survey respondents carried out paid work at the time of the research and 3% did some form of voluntary work.

Two-thirds (66%) of employed respondents said DLA did not help in any way with their work.

Almost four-fifths (79%) of respondents were claiming at least one other benefit along with DLA or AA.

Getting out and about and going to the shops was the main difficulty experienced by all respondents (58%)

Most of the respondents (93%) felt DLA helped financially in the absence or in addition to an income from paid work.

Just less than half (48%) of all respondents said they could use the internet.

(IT/CD)