[broken link removed]
I've seen it all now. It would make a good April fools joke if it wasn't so sad.
Is there any wonder we're spending €20bn on social welfare?
Basic payments are only the half of what's paid out when you look at rent allowance, fuel allowance, back to school allowance, communion allowance, bereavement grants, etc
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/social_welfare/social_welfare_payments/
When you consider the acres of newsprint on Michael Fingleton's €1m bonus (completely justified uproar), why aren't we up in arms about a payment over three times the size incurred every year. In three years since he pocketed the bonus, ten times the amount has been squandered by the state on bling and fake tans for a one day hooley for 8 year old kids of people who are out of work. This is simply outrageous.
The sad thing is how cavalier the people in charge of such payments are about throwing this kind of cash around whilst the rest of us toil away paying extortionate taxes in complete misapprehension of how the social welfare budget is spent.
We pay €500m p.a. in rent allowance (http://www.ronanlyons.com/2011/11/29/rent-supplement-time-for-taxpayers-to-use-their-market-power/). It's clear to anyone with a brain we could immediately cut at least €100m off this bill without endangering the chances of social welfare tenants from finding accommodation (probably more given the property overhang) and yet the targetted saving is a measley 4% of the bill.
Why has nothing happened on these things? Because the people in charge of these "schemes" could not give a toss about squandering tax revenues. If you earn above €33k and work an hour's overtime from 6 to 7pm, you get paid from 6.00 to 6.28. You're busting your ass from 6.28 to 7pm to pay communion benefit, over inflated rent supplements and all the other crazy handouts no one in charge has ever cared to sort out (maybe one is not as uptight about the unfairness of it all when one is already on the bus home at five past five).
I've seen it all now. It would make a good April fools joke if it wasn't so sad.
Is there any wonder we're spending €20bn on social welfare?
Basic payments are only the half of what's paid out when you look at rent allowance, fuel allowance, back to school allowance, communion allowance, bereavement grants, etc
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/social_welfare/social_welfare_payments/
When you consider the acres of newsprint on Michael Fingleton's €1m bonus (completely justified uproar), why aren't we up in arms about a payment over three times the size incurred every year. In three years since he pocketed the bonus, ten times the amount has been squandered by the state on bling and fake tans for a one day hooley for 8 year old kids of people who are out of work. This is simply outrageous.
The sad thing is how cavalier the people in charge of such payments are about throwing this kind of cash around whilst the rest of us toil away paying extortionate taxes in complete misapprehension of how the social welfare budget is spent.
We pay €500m p.a. in rent allowance (http://www.ronanlyons.com/2011/11/29/rent-supplement-time-for-taxpayers-to-use-their-market-power/). It's clear to anyone with a brain we could immediately cut at least €100m off this bill without endangering the chances of social welfare tenants from finding accommodation (probably more given the property overhang) and yet the targetted saving is a measley 4% of the bill.
Why has nothing happened on these things? Because the people in charge of these "schemes" could not give a toss about squandering tax revenues. If you earn above €33k and work an hour's overtime from 6 to 7pm, you get paid from 6.00 to 6.28. You're busting your ass from 6.28 to 7pm to pay communion benefit, over inflated rent supplements and all the other crazy handouts no one in charge has ever cared to sort out (maybe one is not as uptight about the unfairness of it all when one is already on the bus home at five past five).