The majority of people on the dole are genuine, most of them had a job in the last 20 years. All tax payers. The unemployment rate was just over 4% not so long ago.

Sorry to be pedantic here but the Department of Social Welfare dont have any role in policy making! They are very much understaffed and although have sympathy for this lady- she should have contacted Citizens Information and got exact facts and figures off them.
There situation is what it is and the best option is to look for a way to work within the situation, simple fact of the matter is that there is employment out there in certain industries in Ireland and also the option is there to emigrate

But if she’s working she can go to her credit union a get a quick loan to help them last until her first pay. This is how working people sort out their needs… not by expecting someone to sort it out for them. It’s the advantage and the disadvantage of welfare-independent life, you won’t have your hand held but then you don’t need to.

gastrophase can you let me know which credit union lends out on I’m employed I get my first pay check at the end of the month. As far as I’m aware you need to have some saving history to get a loan from a Credit Union?

How do you get a loan from the credit union with no savings and essentially no way to pay it back? The problem here as with all civil servants is the fact that the process is more important than the outcome. We’re trying to help people here no tick boxes. Bloody civil servants. Over paid morans for the most part. Those that are not morans must have their head wrecked byt the majority every day.

@Charley Melia – In the future, if you’re planning to label a huge swath of people you’ve never met or had dealings with idiots, I’d advise using spell-check before you post.

I take it she earns too much for FIS, which means she should be fine financially but just wants to whinge about having to now work for her lifestyle.

FIS takes months to come through..in the meantime your living on less money than you would if you were on the dole. There is no help out there for people getting back to work – system is a joke!

Don’t blame the claimants so much, as the career dole sponger. The system is the problem, the whole country needs to be reborn as a second republic. This is France’s fifth Republic, we need to get rid of the morons making poor decisions and design a modern system. Time for change is past due and the citizens have to do it!

She is better off – Her partner and his other children are a drain on her finances. How is that a problem for social welfare?

If she has less money coming in while working than she did when on welfare then she is NOT BETTER OFF.

She has had this partner throughout this time – the change is her employment status.

its called the public transport system. use it.

Jack, there’s plenty of people in this country who can’t get to work on public transport because it’s not there, or not there at the right times. Once you get out of Dublin city you’ve got a public transport network that is very patchy.

Hell, even when I was working in Dublin city centre I had no way of getting from Lusk to work for a start time of 8 AM on a Sunday.

Not a bad idea Paul but rather than let slackers be slackers with money for nothing I think that long term unemployed should be made work for the state, maybe cleaning roads, collecting litter, keeping public areas in good order etc, there are plenty of things that they could be made do to earn their money. We would probably have a few less wasters living for free generation after generation and the people working for cash and claiming welfare would suddenly find that they could not do both. Apart from those benefits there is the positive psychological effect of getting back into the workplace or just getting off your ass once in a while for something other than your beer and fags.
I’ve said it over and over here that our system needs to be completely overhauled and I’m glad to see that the idea is catching on :-)

@ Frank Enstein. The problem with “workfare” is that you need another level of complicated (and expensive) bureaucracy to make it work. Someone would have to act as an overseer for those litter-collectors. Also, many people would surely be better occupied minding their children, starting a new business, re-training or whatever rather than resentfully looking over their shoulder at some state foreman who is making sure they pick up all the litter and don’t slacken off. (The former state socialist societies of eastern europe were something like that and they didn’t work: the joke was “they pretend to pay us and we pretend to work.”) The alternative is to give everyone a basic subsistence and let them earn more on top of it. That way, you minimize the bureaucracy. (Of course, some kind of social welfare would still be available for people with special needs etc, but the vast bulk of the population would enjoy a huge increase in basic freedom and security.)

Welcome to Fisca pac land, they have loop tapes telling hungry people where to go to be fed.

I am in a similar situation to this girl. Only my partner is from northern Ireland and is not entitled to anything because he is not habitually resident ( need to live here two years or more to claim). I recently got a job and was cut off there and then when I informed them, I get paid monthly and it’s a five week month… Welfare officer doesn’t want to know about it. As it stands now I don’t get paid until the end of the month and my partner is my dependent, it is very disheartening that when I was unemployed I was in a better position than I am now. The system is messed up!!!!

Why they cant re-introduce the back to work allowance to help people who find themselves in this situation, is beyond me. They could even set up a loan system where the welfare officer pays you say 100 euro a week till you get your first paycheque and then have it stopped out of your wages at say 25 euros a week.

FIS is paid out if your net income is below €506 per week, so somebody in a proper job. http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/social_welfare/social_welfare_payments/social_welfare_payments_to_families_and_children/family_income_supplement.html

That is just wrong ! They should not have to do that . It is this type of carry on that has the country the way it is. Where does it say that the law has to be stupid . Has no one got any cop on ? As Feargal Garvin said above ^ ”Nobody should be worse off working than not working and the system should be fixed to break this benefit trap.”

Or get married. Christ it’s 150 quid, the first payslip would cover it.

They may not be able to get married , he or she or both may have been married before and not yet divorced !!!

Eh P Wurple maybe one of them is waiting on a divorce before they can marry?

The system is fooked, but he needs to get a job or get the heck out if they can’t get married. I wouldn’t put up with that out of a man. There she is giving birth, getting the job, supporting the whole lot of them on her own and all he contributes is bringing in more mouths to feed.. What use is that to her?

I cannot believe you said that. Aren’t lies and theft how we got in this position in the first place. It amazes me that people like you are always happy to come up with the laziest and crooked solutions to these problems.

its crap like that has wasted millions better spent on those of use that actually contribute to our states coffers. get off yer holes and work for a change, instead of demanding a bigger cap to hold all the spare change youre panhandling for

So Susie did you have an unplanned pregnancy? If so why? Why does some one in the this day and age feel have they to go through this? Why do they expect Society to pay for their choices? If you can’t afford the consequences take precautions, or terminate.

Mick Byrne
Don’t you worry about me or any pregnancy I may or may not have had , planned or otherwise . That is clearly none of your business, The issue is that this pregnant girl got a job , came off the dole and finds that financially she would have been better off staying on social welfare …. That is not right. I wish her and her new baby well and her family too.

Not what you get in money, its what you have to give up. Childcare and doctors bills and all those other things you suddenly have to start paying for. The people going into basic paying jobs should be rewarded. As for the single mothers, I know plenty who work hard raise a brilliant family and do not go around feeling sorry for themselves.

Corinne, that’s not the case. That is decided on a case by case basic by the judge.

I should add that it might have changed in the last 12 months, but last I heard being on social welfare does not automatically make someone not liable for child maintenance payments.

I’m sorry but do people in this day an age really need a REMINDER to look after their own back. if this is the case then this county is worse off than I thought.

A lot of drugs are cheaper in Newry or Spain

@Kevin
The damage occurred over 30 years, when there was far less appreciation of workplace back injury than there is in this day and age.

Eilish, I’m guessing you’re a nurse? My own dad was a psyche nurse and suffered a number of injuries too. (Not just through lifting either).

Pay little heed to the red thumbs – people see “public servant” these days and take the populous view. Your frustration is genuine and justified.

I hope your recovery is swift and that you can continue in your profession.

Opinions? What are you talking about?

@Keith Colton: I mean that Civil Servants do not use reading, writing, arithmetic or evidence.

They use what they consider is an opinion, which could be a lie, a guess, assumptions, presumptions, figments of their imagination, beliefs, wishful thinking, rumours, etc. If they do not have opinions then they can falsify your paperwork.

There are a lot of things that you can disguise as an opinion and your guess is as good as anybody else as to whether they are actually using opinions.

You are guaranteed that they will not let you question evidence behind closed doors in Social Welfare Appeals systems because they don’t have evidence that their are no jobs available.

Keith, this Loyalirish guy comes along to the comments section here every so often with barely-relevant, barely-coherent nonsense about how “opinions” in law are ruining Ireland. If you try to get him to explain what he means or give examples he’ll evade, waffle incoherently (as he does here) or link you to something incredibly useful and specific like the entire Irish State legislation.

Whatever his intention when he posts, he comes across as a conspiracy theorist, divorced from facts, reality and with no concept of how nonsensical he is.

@Aoife O’C: You openly admit that you do not understand the subject.

If you do not understand the subject then maybe you should not make a comment.

It seems a little silly that you want to reveal your lack of skills on the subject that you maybe better off trying to work out opinions in law and how they effect you and your family. Its in your interest to use reading, writing and arithmetic to figure out the problem and then take the right steps to protect yourself.

To be fair – I get what you mean by that.

There are people that we have to deal with in life who will state their opinion as fact. Depending on these opinions and not recognising them as such (only opinions) can lead to getting absolutely screwed over.

I don’t see how this is down to frontline cival servants though. The system is broke and I can understand the civil servant sometimes having a blow-out with the negativity they face every day. Not to say this lady doesn’t deserve an apology.

Housing should be state owned AND you are opposed to bureaucracy??

Look at sweeden and other european countries, it works there. It leaves more money in your pocket to spend, then being crippled with mortgages and negative equity. Open your mind and catch up with countries that are not bankrupt as many times as we’ve been. Time to try something new, what’s the obsession with ownership?

So those of us who do own our own homes or are paying through the nose for our own homes or have them nearly paid off etc ., in your land of non bureaucracy , can we sell our homes back to the government for Cash ? I will . Then I will pack my bags and go somewhere safe and sensible and live happily ever after.

Housing should be state owned!? Didn’t they do that in the soviet union and it was wonderful right?
Where do you get the idea that it’s like that in Sweden and other European countries?
What planet are you on?

Stephen, the amount of red thumbs you’ve received for what is a truly accurate statement is an indication that the people of this country have no incentive for change and are quite happy to be continuously shafted while merely complaining about it. The moral of this woman’s story is that the system encourages people not to return to work, by default. If she needed to do her homework before taking employment, it’s a sad state of affairs in the first instance. Again, pure comedy in a tragic sense. Imagine, being ‘better off’ on social welfare! That’s where we’re at!

Are we talking 100% of housing being state owned?
Personally I wouldn’t agree with that – but I can see how this would work. To be fair, look at the type of housing that people have been happy with in this country. Same old boring houses from 70′s style designs and marginally better building methods.
Developers profit to a reasonable extent (in the way that any business should be allowed to)…. Government’s complicity in facilitating developers in zoning corruption pretty much ends…. People have a chance to have a home, the rent goes back into the coffers and is a pretty stable revenue flow.
There’s lots of reasons why this is a good idea. The main disadvantage is the Irish love of owning your own – which can still happen so those who do make the money can still buy their acre and build – any developer profiting here will likely make more money but the availability of state housing should help keep prices reasonable.
People will also point to housing estates as “bad” areas for crime etc. This might be true currently, but in a future where state housing is widespread with good planning it’s not.

Get married to avail of tax credits…are you for real!!!

It’s worth a few hundred quid a month. She could lobby government for years to change the tax regime for cohabiting couples, and write more despondent articles or she could do something now to have a financial impact.

It’s as good a reason to marry as any. That and rights to your children if your a man.

If they wanted to marry, they would do so. Financial expedience is not a good reason for marriage and they shouldn’t be forced into it as the only path to fair treatment. Anyway, marriage itself is an expensive business. The point of this article is that the social welfare system financially penalises employment in some cases and when it does, there is no mechanism to correct the anomaly. I don’t think she’s looking for financial/relationship advice.

Marriage is not expensive at all, you just need to show up before the registrar. If they didn’t want to make their arrangement official, which I fully understand as a valid option, they should not seek tax credits. Either or…

If our government wants people to stop living of the state.

Then let them lead by example.

What is her point? Welfare is too high? ok, I agree let’s reduce it. But that will have no impact on her family as she is working.

With their lies, ignorance, corruption, negligence, delays, cowardice, weakness, red tape, bureaucracy, unjustified inflated salaries/expenses and showboating etc etc.

This toothless government are nothing but liquidators put in place by corrupt faceless gamblers.

Fine Gael and Labour ”bringing the famine back to Ireland”

Stop bullying your people and stand up to the real bullies!!!

Part of the lesson here to be learned is to speak to the like of the citizens advice bureau and study the whole picture of returning to work and the implications it will have financely and personaly , best done before running into the social welfare and signing off, to be honest have found the larger percentage of those working at unemployment offices to be ignorant and unprofessional towards their work and clients using my own years ago personal experiance and also more recently of other family members

@ IR small problem with moving to cheaper accommodation closer to the job is in losing the deposit of one accommodation (leaving before contract expires) and having to raise same for the next . Moreover, perhaps the rents are too high; so lets reduce that, which will have a very significant benefit for this family + many others…….

I think the point is being missed entirely here – This lady has made a significant effort to get back to the workplace. We’re not talking about a sponger here.

Let’s not lose sight of the big picture – getting some form of support getting back into the workplace is still much more preferable than the cost to the taxpayer of full support.

Any sort of practical answer is shouted down on here by the hand wringing majority that seem to populate this country. Its everyone elses fault and dont you forget that.
Your point makes too much sense to be taken seriously

even if this baby was planned it takes 9 months before the baby was born and a lot can happen in this time.

I’m hopeful Shane O’Connor you will never have any babies. What a stupid comment.

I have to agree bringing a baby into this economic climate is crazy.

Well then ! I hope none of you never have an ”unplanned” pregnancy. A lot can happen in 9 months , but it does seem unfair that he has just brought discomfort and insecurity to this girl’s life . But maybe she loves him ! Maybe it is as simple as that and they are prepared to go the course together . I wish them well and success.

In reply to the unplanned pregnancy post, this is the 21st century if you want to have sex use contraception or if you are really stupid get the morning after pill or failing that have a termination, if you want a baby make sure you can provide for it and don’t expect society in general to pick up the tab.

Thank you Bryan, the abundance of these people is Ireland’s biggest problem.

All I said was, if this baby was planned, while they were both on the dole, it was irresponsible.

I certainly wouldn’t like to share company with someone who thinks it’s ok to bring life into the world in such circumstance.

Mick Shane
I really hope you never experiennce an unplanned pregnancy or more to the point , your partner , because it is not as plain sailing as you two make out . But as long as all is ok in your world by all means feel free to critcise …..