Welfare assistance/entitlement for couple in financial difficulties

they live with his mother rent free
Well that's interesting...he actually works in Dublin and travels from my place which is near to city week days

However he stays at weekends and odd day at his mother's with the partner
This is a bit confusing and contradictory. Maybe you can clarify?
is there a regulation as regards time spent apart , what qualifies as " living together" I wonder ..
 
Congratulations on being a grandparent. This is a lovely thing.

Could you maybe do a money makeover.

It seems the incomes are 26520 plus 13208 = 40K+/-

They have no accommodation costs. Leaving them with 764 a week. To pay for food and car. Do they pay for utilities.

Yesterday we were looking up Masters in Ireland. Some of them are online completely. Some are part time requiring attendance in the evening on two days a week. So designed around working people.
 
How much is the car eating up? Would it be better to try and change it for something more reliable even if older?

Be good to see where the money goes. I presume they are going to Aldi for nappies.
 
As they are still together as a couple, neither is a lone parent so cannot claim for that. It may be that she will have to continue working an extra year or so in order for them to save towards her masters. Could she also work evenings, on the mid-week nights your son stays with them? As and when they need baby items look up local Facebook pages that give stuff away for free - people offer clothes, toys etc, so they can make savings that way. They can also sell on stuff as baby outgrows them.
 
I know of a person who was helped to get through college financially by the st Vincent de paul. They were going through hard times. I've no doubt they will pay it back ten fold over time.
 
Which is why it was suggested they would be better financially living apart.

I don’t think it’s that simple. The One Parent Family payment is for parents bringing up a child without the support of a partner. It’s also means tested and would mean no custody for the OPs son.
 
child without the support of a partner. It’s also means tested and would mean no custody for the OPs son
Not true; child maintenance is excluded

The benefit is not tied to a condition preventing the non-resident parent from seeing the child.
 
Not true; child maintenance is excluded

The benefit is not tied to a condition preventing the non-resident parent from seeing the child.

One parent family payment is not there for when one parent lives away during the week for work. Even if he doesn’t stay over at the weekend it doesn’t change the nature of their relationship. It’s an area where I openly hear people committing benefit fraud but I don’t think it should be a solution proposed here.

Same as you wouldn’t suggest not paying tax as a solution.