That’s the problem Paul. Support those who have never worked in their lives at all costs. Keep pummeling the worker who is trying to support his/her family barely keeping the show in the road or the recently unemployed person who has worked all their life and is now struggling to get back in the game. It’s a joke.

If you are earning 25k or there abouts you shouldn’t be having 2-3 kids. It’s irresponsible in my opinion.

My observations are directed at the social welfare recipients that never worked a day in their life, everything paid for by the state, my niece aged 28 lives in a Dublin suburb, not married, two children, house supplied by the state, never worked a day in her life (never paid paye/prsi) and she smokes, drinks, drives a car.
I am a bit pissed off paying for other people’s luxuries.

Niall, what if you were earning more than 25k when you had the kids?

Once again stereotypical prejudicial and bigoted comments towards people struggling to live on welfare DUE TO NO FAULT OF THEIR OWN.

What about Niall if you never worked, have no intention of working, have a few kids and get everything handed to you from the State from the cradle to the grave? Is this person irresponsible or just a complete waste of oxygen?

I agree totally with Paul here. I worked all my life over 30 years and now am disabled to to illness. I paid into the system and now receive 186 euro a week waiting for a social welfare appeal. I was denied two legitimate welfare claims out of hand. I worked and paid my taxes and was never on the dole. Now I have less than any person on the dole. My house is in arrears I get nothing but a bare payment to keep me from starvation. Is this Justice. As you say Paul. There should be a clear distinction in welfare office for those who work and have worked and those who never did a days work in their lives. Career welfare people are the ones should be driven out like I am being driven out. All my PRSI paid for what???? I can’t even get what I paid into.

Christopher, I made an observation, this is not a personal attack on any individual.
Tv’s, cars, alcohol, cigarettes and mobile phones are luxuries.
I cannot afford to pay for others luxuries any more or I will be asking st Vincent de Paul for a dig out.

Comments not directed at the people Christopher, I would do the same in their shoes….my frustration is directed at governments who preside over this system of lifestyle welfare recipients.

And Niall is it ok to support the families that have never worked a day in their life and have 7 or 8 kids ??? How responsible is that might I ask ???

Just want to point out that during the boom there was 30,000 people on social welfare, now we know that figure has gone away up now, 15% unemployment, these people didn’t just say hey I’m bored of work lets go sit at home all day. 272,000 children living in poverty. Them 30,000 are milking the system. They had all the allowances before the system got strict and they are still getting them. People who signed in last 2-3 years are living the most basic life. Monday to Sunday watching every penny. But we could come on here and attack the 30,000 making the genuine people feel isolated and useless, or we could all start focusing out attention on gov who insist we pay illegal gambling debts, makes more sense to put that money into economy, generate jobs, get people off welfare back to work and spending in the economy. Genuine people on welfare don’t want people taxes going up, but they didn’t cause it and what can they do to fix it, they can’t get work to contribute.

Or we could keep going with austerity, low middle income being taxed, welfare being cut, people have less disposable income, business suffering, more people unemployed, more people on welfare.

We should be taxing the wealthy to help them share in the burden.

The problem really isn’t your relative. The big problem is made up of many small problems. First of all this country supports generous welfare. Then there is the issue of planned parent hood. I’m sure if foresight is taken when having children and how to support them after they are born. Then there is the folks that believe that they are owed something. Then this country is made up of begrudgers. Then there is the fact people are seldom encouraged to follow there dreams or they can strive to do better.

We as a country really have to change our attitude. We really are destroying our cuture… We are not evolving.

Blame your politicians for mismanaging the economy. Don’t attack the vulnerable in society.

Well said Christopher.

Mark for ur information I have been unemployed and I was better off , I’m not saying it was fantastic but I had more money that’s honest .. And also yes I am responsible for my children and I was in a relationship with their father for 20 yrs longer than most people ,, iv separated and I’m doing my best working to provide for them and I’m sick of the Government taking from everyone wat they can . I’m wondering wat u me by “personal responsibility ” ?

Reginald, we could elect Ming for Taoiseach, and Wallace as minister of finance.
What can possibly go wrong?

Did the mainstream parties not get us into this mess?

Somehow I thing we need a better approach to the situation other than “they got us in here, they didn’t, lets give them a go” approach, considering that that’s how FG/LAB got in.

new political party would be great. But to register one you need to have a TD already sitting in the Dail, and that would lead to bias.
I would love a new party, one that is left enough to provide for those struggling and to support a welfare state, but also flexible.
It should support women’s rights, be completely neutral to religion and let no religion have bias, it should support equality, promote cross boarder relations to make everyone on the Island of Ireland feel included no matter their creed or loyalty.
It should ensure that those that messed up our country for their benefit are tried fairly in a court of law, then ensure banks are regulated and put safe guards against this mess happening again, but remain committed to paying its debts, while trying to reduce them so that our children’s children aren’t in debt.
It would not be perfect, But it might be a start

Voting in the next election will be like asking if you’d rather eat dogsh1t or catsh1t.

We would be too high to care about our financial state.

@Eric: You don’t need to have a TD to setup a new political party – that’s one way. The other is to get 300 signatures – half of whom need to be on the register of electors – to contest national elections, or 150 signatures to contest local elections.

@Jonny: lets get signing! I call dictator for life, you can be president for life……

Lets not forget that voting in the last elections were worse eh hem ye hardly think the last few governments were good and didnt trap us into the situation we have now.The last elections and Governments were FF got 66% of the vote what did FG get in the last one huge percentage were the important ones because they set it up and the country is what its going to be now.I keep saying this but government will do what its told by the people if the people see fit to make them do it .The people will bring this country back because it is the people who suffer on and not the Government .Form a movement in your own town and village and get busy organizing yereselves instead of waiting for a miracle and winging.

Sorry but a new party won’t happen because there is a roughly 50:50 left:right population. If you guys are hoping for a “new” rightwing party, best of luck!

Going by the polls, the progressive liberal parties will likely earn more votes come 2016 because the middle class are being forced to share the burden instead of the top 10 per cent wealthy.

@Mick Kenny. Joan Burton was on Matt Cooper’s Last Word yesterday and she waffled on and on but the most important thing she said was that she hoped to “save” 200 million for the government. To reach that target she really doesn’t care who she hurts.

Tax breaks, tax reliefs and tax anomalies are one of the reasons taxes on the top 10 per cent are at their lowest since the 1980′s.

tax rebates on company cars, group company tax breaks, discretionary tax reliefs, tax anomalies, tax allowances, the list goes on.

Shay… No disrespect to your opinion. However, the cost is necessary. The cost of the test easily be absorbed by redirecting the government’s financial waste: high salaries, excessive golden parachutes, poor decisions that results in ongoing payments… Do you recall the electronic voting machines? It’s still costing us. How many costs like the voting machines exist that we are not aware of.

Means testing is a cost, but will bring value and long term savings.

Think of an investment that will pay for your children and grandchildren’s future.

Means testing would have to ongoing and yearly to be effective, circumstances change, cost would not be small and it would be an on going investment
I accept in terms of social justice it is fairer and more just

Shay… You are correct would require that it is done yearly. However, to save costs… Means testing can be done every three or four years.

The US government does it every few years. However, with their system… Before acting on the results… They compare it to other indicators that are carried out by other independent groups.

Believe it or not… A lot of statistics are already out there that could be used instead of means testing.. However, being that they are not official and completed in a controlled environment they can’t be used independently as being 98% accurate with a low average of error.

There is no fairer way than means testing… Proof is in the numbers… Not the governmental conjecture or opinion.

Well, the government needs to go after the wealthy top 10 per cent whose taxes are currently at a 25 year low. Instead, they are going after the middle class. Conservative parties have a track record for class warfare style policies.

Having a job that doesn’t pay enough for you to live a basic lifestyle & going on the dole if you choose to quit, means the social welfare will penalise you very sad but true, I read here all the time of people who lose their jobs have to wait for weeks- months for a new claim to be processed. The ones who have never worked get a hell of a lot more money, more kids, more benefit.. My heart does go out to the poor working men of Ireland, what’s happening to our once proud country it’s being divided & conquered by the powers that be.. Proud to be Irish was once a very proud saying.. It doesn’t seem to count for much today..

mary, the left would change that injustice if people gave them a chance, most likely.

Danny, Karolyn. It’s called saving. I pay them myself.

Karolyn, you still think there will be a pension when our time comes ???
If you don’t plan to take care of yourself you will be disappointed

Really Smiley?
Fair play to you. You’re not going to claim your state pension? You won’t be getting sick and need any hospital treatment or medical care? You won’t need and Guards? Or civil service? You’re simply going to stay in your house until you pass away, no state help whatsoever?
Or perhaps you are going to volunteer extra taxes once you retire, out of this massive stash of savings you’ll have to cover these things?
You might not realise, but you are currently paying taxes so that today’s pensioners have these services.
Today’s children will pay the taxes to cover the services for you.

Smiley your comment stinks of snobbery
,
Many many of us here pay our taxes and work our arse off , so the way I see ,my taxes entitle me to get childrens allowance , you don,t have kids I take, so you simply don,t understand , perhaps someday U will have kids and then U will understand ,
without children there is no future

Sean. What a load of tripe. I have had children, I have worked all my adult life, I have saved and not sought instant gratification, incessantly. I have paid my way without child support. What gives current parents the right to think they are entitled to child support? I know. Political bribery. Well, in today’s economic climate it is unsustainable. You, with you child support, are robbing Ireland’s future by taking money that could be used to pay off the massive debt accrued by those FF eejits.

First of all its my opinion which Im entitled to just as you are yours second of all Im talking about the people who have never worked have no intention of working and are getting everything for nothing then come x mas when the help they get from the vdp is meant to be spent on shopping SOME (just incase i wasn’t clear the first time) people try to spend it on cigarettes and alcohol, Im pretty sure thats not what it was given for. Now how bout u get over someone having a different opinion than yours.

Food and groceries are by far the largest core expenditure by most unemployed people. Are you really that stupid not to know that? Wonder how your plan would backfire when VAT and duty incomes plummet triggering higher income taxes to compensate. I’m sure no economist would recommend your proposal.

How do you know unemployed people spend it on “alcohol” and “cigarettes”?

Who did the neo-cons hate before this? Homosexuals? People who walked in cracks on footpaths?

Oh here we go with the insults i know that SOME (i put it in capitals because obviously you can’t read) people spend it this way because Im the person standing behind the counter refusing them cigarettes and alcohol when they present gift cards given to them by the vdp.