Is anyone else cheesed off with how much people get paid on social welfare

[mr zulu]

well when i said dole,i meant unemployment Benefit and yes he does get 430euro a week,plus he was paying 80euro a week rent for his house,he didnt go for the buy option,all this is a fact,why dont you check it out on the social welfare page and see for yourself.

 

[thaiaddict]

i wonder, how many contributing on this forum work for banks??

gobless...

 

[irishlinks]

well when i said dole,i meant unemployment Benefit and yes he does get 430euro a week,plus he was paying 80euro a week rent for his house,he didnt go for the buy option,all this is a fact,why dont you check it out on the social welfare page and see for yourself.

It should be 204.30 for himself plus 135.60 for partner plus 26 per child = 78
Total 417.90 a week - not far off 430 plus the reduction in rent of 62 a week.
I can see that some people on a wage of below say €14 an hour would be tempted to stay on the Jobseekers Benefit for as long as possible - they will be just as well off (maybe better!).
Many people don't realise how much benefist they can get - and now many are going to be claiming for the first time and will realise they can live just as well by doing nothing. The wage levels are amongst the highest in the EU - so we are told - so they can't be raised. The benefit levels need to be looked at surely?

 

[Complainer]

He he, very true. Ok, so it could be said that we, as a country, are paying out excessive amounts of welfare to young single mothers in support and housing payments... this is fundamentally due to a Catholic religious ideal.. that the family and life etc are amazing and should always be defended...

So if that is one of our problems what about this.??... Abortion should be mandatory if an expectant mother can't demonstrate the means (and the parenting skills!) to care for the child. There, I've said it. Maybe I'm a fascist.

(Of course I would have preferred to see money well spent during the good years on education and creating opportunities in dis-advantaged areas... )

Don't give facists a bad name. Your mandatory abortion proposal isn't facism. It is 100 times worse. It is completely abhorrent. I'd imagine that on mature reflection, you will realise this and see the light. Just think about how many of your family/friends/colleagues would not have passed your cash test. But if not, can I suggest that you accompany me to meet a range of family, friends, work colleagues who would undoubtedly have failed your economic barrier. I'd really like to see you look them in the eye and tell them they should have been aborted - that they had no right to live their lives because their parent(s) didn't have enough money. Better still, let's just go on a tour of certain areas of Dublin and you can stand on a soap box singing about your proposal. I'd be most interested in seeing the outcome.

The logical conclusion of your proposal is that of course, once an older person is unable to support themselves, we take them out (and I'm not talking about a date here). How many of the Dell 1800 employees who've lost their jobs would fail your economic test, and therefore be liable for the chop?

 

[grahamo]

well when i said dole,i meant unemployment Benefit and yes he does get 430euro a week,plus he was paying 80euro a week rent for his house,he didnt go for the buy option,all this is a fact,why dont you check it out on the social welfare page and see for yourself.

Unemployment Benefit, I think its Jobseekers benefit these days, is paid for by your own PRSI contributions. How is your tax paying for this?

 

[nesbitt]

We are all only a stroke of a pen away from being on social welfare

I agree.

Do I think 204euro pw is too much. No not with the cost of living in Ireland. I think you can exist keep your head above water on SW.

However after reading through the posts on this thread (phew!). I do think that there is a vast differeance between receiving a SW payment honestly or fraudently. All allowances other than JSB is means tested. Go on Citizens Advice website and check out what would be your allowances if you suddenly found you were unwaged.... Think about how you would survive not live. No you will not get your ESB, or TV licence etc. paid..... unless you are elderly. Fraudulent SW recipaints do very well for themselves and IMO are thieves and the lowest of the low. Any ordinary Jo(e) who happens to find themselves in the unhappy situation of needing to rely on SW well that is a totally different matter.

 

[cleverclogs7]

Can I just point out that you are paying 320 Euros on Credit union monthly from the money you are getting - that's the reason there is nothing left. Without the credit union it should be working out ok.

Yes ,and how do you think i would get 1st and lasts months deposit for my rent.s.w dont help with this when you get r/a.
Think before you speak.

 

[BigCon]

I think the majority of people have no problem with anyone claiming all their social welfare entitlements provided that they are not commiting fraud and they are genuinely looking for work.

It's a bit different now in that jobs are hard to come by, but there was no excuse for anyone on the dole during the boom years (anyone under 40).
A maximum of six months dole allowance should have been implemented back then...

 

[Purple]

The question is not if people deserve it, we need to ask if the country can afford to pay it.

 

[nesbitt]

The question is not if people deserve it, we need to ask if the country can afford to pay it.

No I do not think the country can afford to pay for sw fraudsters or sw tourists! The Govt should be leaving no stone unturned to stamp benefit theft out. I think duplicate/inflated claims must be a huge drain on an overwhelmed system. I absolutely detest the 'SW tourists' that have arrived in ROI, avail of SW, Education system and public healthcare. This is of course a 'hot potato' issue....

 

[Purple]

I absolutely detest the 'SW tourists' that have arrived in ROI, avail of SW, Education system and public healthcare. This is of course a 'hot potato' issue....

Just like the Irish have done in the UK for decades...

 

[mishmash]

I totally agree. I am keeping my head down working away.

Recently as work, a Polish member or staff asked me if I could fire her, so see could return to Poland and collect Job seekers allowance from the Irish government for a further 9 weeks. She informed me, she had many Polish friends and relatives who were in recepit of monies from the irish social welfare system while now fully rsident in Poland.

Made me sick to my teeth. Needless to say, she is still working head down!

 

[ninsaga]

I thought that they had to sign on now every week to counteract this problem?

 

[MandaC]

I agree.

Do I think 204euro pw is too much. No not with the cost of living in Ireland. I think you can exist keep your head above water on SW.

However after reading through the posts on this thread (phew!). I do think that there is a vast differeance between receiving a SW payment honestly or fraudently. All allowances other than JSB is means tested. Go on Citizens Advice website and check out what would be your allowances if you suddenly found you were unwaged.... Think about how you would survive not live. No you will not get your ESB, or TV licence etc. paid..... unless you are elderly. Fraudulent SW recipaints do very well for themselves and IMO are thieves and the lowest of the low. Any ordinary Jo(e) who happens to find themselves in the unhappy situation of needing to rely on SW well that is a totally different matter.

Agree with the sentiments above. Could I live on €204 per week. No way. It would barely pay my mortgage.

It is not correct to say, however, that people on JSB do not get ESB/Gas etc paid.

If you visit the Relieving Officer, they can make special hardship payments depending on the individual circumstances.

I also think the SW tourists should be tackled head on. It is such a hot potato issue that people are afraid of confronting such people and being labelled racist.

The most relevant point for me too, is the comment that we are all just one step away from Social Welfare. Never a truer word spoken in today's climate.

 

[nesbitt]

Just like the Irish have done in the UK for decades...

I agree that there was mass exodus from our shores in past decades. The exodus was a reluctant reality, working long and hard hours to survive not a planned exercise to be a SW tourist. The UK authorities got great value out of our citizens labour. Not a like for like situation at all in my book.

 

[Lak]

The crazy situation is the fact that you do not need to fraudulantly abuse the system to be financilly better off.
My wife works full time and I have not worked since November, I am a builder plasterer by trade and do not need to elaborate on the bleak outlook on that front.
As a self employed individual having paid my taxes year on year and an S stamp it transpires I am entitled to precisely nothing in welfare payments so we live off one wage as do thousands of formely S/E workers.
My wife was concerned at losing her job in the public sector but having done the maths we would have been financially better off to both be on the dole. Two social welfare payments, two children taken out of pre school (huge saving) the miriad of welfare payments would lead us to be better off which I found astonishing.
Ironically my wife works for the Local employment service and is fully familiar with the welfare incomes that those who use the service recieve and it is disturbing in light of those like ourselves who are prepared to work hard and not be a burden to any one.
An example : Non national receives all the benefits going and comes into the office with a form to be signed for his wife to receive a PPs number. He is quite open about the fact that she is living in Poland and has no intention of coming to Ireland as she has a job at home, all he requires is an official signature as this is all that is required to recieve the PPs and claim benefits for his wife....his justification, everyone is doing it! (it didnt get signed, but would have been elsewhere) This is not a slur on non nationals, I have worked alongside many and they put the Irish to shame with their work ethic.
As for working for your Dole, there is a scheme called a CE scheme where long term unemployed can work three days a week in all manner of services that benefit the community and country as a whole for just a few euro more above the welfare payments, this is a voluntary scheme which many people happily partake of in order to keep a sense of dignity, a sense of contribution and to keep themselves busy and sane........only the government have in their wisdom imposed a two month embargo on anyone taking up this option, and may even be scrapped alltogether.
Welfare payments are far to high, even those on income support should share the burden. Signing once a month into a bank account is a system open to abuse.
Last point : I worked in a gang alongside another guy, he is single and rents a four bed new house paid for by the state alongside his €204 euro, medical card etc etc and has no intention of taking a full time job again other than the odd day cash here and there. By comparison I get no financial assistance whatsoever with three children and a mortgage, am not bitter I spent a small fortune to become a BER assessor, even if it has thus far been a damp sqib...but that is a different moan alltogether !!!

 

[rabbit]

One of the few things that went up in the last budget was the Social Welfare payment, to around EUR 209 per week.

Does someone really need EUR 209 per week to survive.

A friend of mine is getting rent allowance, lives in a 1 bed apartment in Letterkenny.

He has to pay an additional EUR 35 out of his social welfare to cover the shortfall in rent allowance.

I asked him candidly over the Christmas period, if you didn't smoke or drink for the week, how much would it cost you to live.

He said around EUR75.

So that's an extra EUR 100 he's got to 'enjoy himself' with every week.

Surely social welfare should be means or locally assessed. i.e. the cost of living in Dublin would be much higher than in the wilds of Donegal, or families with additional mouths to feed etc.

Also, the person just made unemployed with a hefty mortgage to pay, yes I accept the case for needing to pay a higher amount here too.

But my original question was this. Do you pay too much in Social Welfare payments.

Consider that social welfare in England at the moment is around EUR70 per week.

If you feel like replying, I'd appreciate it if you could say whether you are receiving Social Welfare payments or not.

I agree 100% that social welfare is too high, given the country is borrowing up on 20 billion per year. I am a taxpayer and I see those who get handouts from the govt able to afford luxuries many workers cannot or would find it difficult to afford.

 

[BoscoTalking]

there is a scheme called a CE scheme where long term unemployed can work three days a week in all manner of services that benefit the community and country as a whole for just a few euro more above the welfare payments, this is a voluntary scheme which many people happily partake of in order to keep a sense of dignity, a sense of contribution and to keep themselves busy and sane........only the government have in their wisdom imposed a two month embargo on anyone taking up this option, and may even be scrapped alltogether.

I totally agree on this one. instead of ensuring those who want to work but cannot find employment, complete projects which enhance the local areas we want them to sit at home and look at the place decay around them or move to towns and cities so that rural areas become ghost towns...

 

[Lak]

I for one would feel absolutely no embarrassement to go into town and pick up rubbish from the street ( I do anyway) or better still offer my tade skills to projects that would be of benefit to the community. Our local school has a derelict small building that could be renovated and put to good use by availing of the many tradesmen who are currently out of work and who I am sure would be delighted to offer their services either for nothing or for just a few euros extra pin money. There are well documented overseas projects that many tadesmen have willingly given time to partake in, perhaps it is time to look a little closer to home and procur the services of the unemployed for the benefit of Ireland instead of paying them to sit on their a###s at home. In light of the fact that most self employed tradesmen do not receive a single penny in state handouts I am sure many would be oly too happy to be paid even a pittance.

 

[rabbit]

In light of the fact that most self employed tradesmen do not receive a single penny in state handouts I am sure many would be oly too happy to be paid even a pittance.

maybe...but why would they be happy to work for a pittance when others who do state work get paid a fortune , often for less skilled work ?