Gimme me DoLe!

marvin2k

I finished college ages ago and Ive been trying to get the damn dole but They keep fobbin g me off with bull**** exscuses like "Oh you didnt hand in the right form" and saying they sent me out stuff which they clearly didnt , has anyone else had ****ty experiences with these welfare folk ?I`m peeved It takes so long for everything to be processed , whats the point of welfare if it takes 6 months for you to get it ? are they waiting for you to die so they dont have to pay it out? If I took months to pay the tax on my can of coke theyd be onto me in no time ,Cmon Bertie show me the money I`m starvin Here .

Victor

If you are desparate talk to your local Community Welfare Officer.

Nuttzz

You could, of course, try and get a job and put that college education to some use

ChipZilla

Originally posted by Nuttzz
You could, of course, try and get a job and put that college education to some use

Except that's not the point. You're perfectly entitled to claim for Unemployment Assistance from the day you leave full-time-education. Most students don't walk into a job they day they finish, so some form of income is needed in the meantime.

http://www.oasis.gov.ie/employment/losing_your_job/unemployment_assistance.html

If your claim for Unemployment Assistance is refused or if you do not agree with the means test assessment, you have the right to appeal to the Social Welfare Appeals Office.

When I left college I managed to get my dole sorted in under a week, but rent allowance was a whole different story.:rolleyes:

Sleepy

I hear Dunnes are hiring.

Zulu

"A word of advice - do what your parents did and get a job Lebowski - the bums war is over"

jo.king

Go get a job! :mad:

ChipZilla

The little trolls are out in force today, aren't they? :rolleyes:

I hope jo.king and the rest never get laid off and need to sign on...

jo.king

At least if i do i will have earned the right after paying my taxes!!

Sleepy

Personally, I'd actually abolish the dole. There's far too many lazy sods just opting to take a few months off and live on my taxes. There's loads of minimum wage jobs out there to be had. Work one of them and pay your own way in life ffs.

l3rian

minimum wage jobs are slave labour

sceptre

Hmmm, 2 helpful posts out of 10 replies.

(the awards go to Victor and ChipZilla in case anyone's asleep, though then again, it's not as though the original poster actually asked a question)

This, leading to this may be of some use if there's some dispute as to what you need and what you don't.

ArphaRima

You could, of course, try and get a job and put that college education to some use

Agreed.

Personally, I'd actually abolish the dole. There's far too many lazy sods just opting to take a few months off and live on my taxes. There's loads of minimum wage jobs out there to be had. Work one of them and pay your own way in life ffs.

I think that a declining dole system would work better. The first three months shoul be far better than our current rates. Thereafter it should decrease to subsistance levels only. That way minimum wages will look better by far to the long term bums.

Our man in Havana

Heres what you should do. Go Back to the dole office and find out excatly whats going on. Then go to the community welfare officer at your local health centre poste haste and he/she will pay you pending your dole application being processed.

That's what I did when I signed on and I had the money the same day. Thankfully I am no longer signing.

Good luck.

eth0_

All you need is a letter from your college stating you've finished, your PPS number , possibly a P45 if you've worked before and proof of ID! There are no more forms you would need!
Be aware you're probably only entitled to the minimum rate of dole which isn't much more than €30 a week, so perhaps you should start looking for a job. Even working in Tesco will get you more than the dole.

parsi

Originally posted by eth0_
All you need is a letter from your college stating you've finished, your PPS number , possibly a P45 if you've worked before and proof of ID! There are no more forms you would need!
Be aware you're probably only entitled to the minimum rate of dole which isn't much more than €30 a week, so perhaps you should start looking for a job. Even working in Tesco will get you more than the dole.

Casting my mind back I also think a form for a means test would have to be completed

eth0_

Originally posted by parsi
Casting my mind back I also think a form for a means test would have to be completed

I never had to do this, well, when I was on the dole last summer the dole officer filled in a form for me and asked had I any land, did I live at home etc but this is automatically done when you sign on, whether you have the relevent forms with you or not.

parsi

Originally posted by eth0_
I never had to do this, well, when I was on the dole last summer the dole officer filled in a form for me and asked had I any land, did I live at home etc but this is automatically done when you sign on, whether you have the relevent forms with you or not.

Ah things ahve changed - 'twas ove 10 years ago when I worked in a dole office..

Tazz T

@ Jo King and Sleepy.

That's a bad attitude. So you two feel very comfortable in whatever positions you're in at the moment. I'm sure you'll feel the other way if you become unemployed through no reason of your own. I've been employed constantly since leaving uni in 1987 but was I glad I could sign on when being made redundant for several months last year. Back in work, thank god now. But I don't mind one bit having to pay tax so other people like you can have the same reassurance - should the same thing happen to you.

If the dole gets phased out, I hope it happens when you need it.

gogo

Originally posted by parsi
Casting my mind back I also think a form for a means test would have to be completed

Only if your living with your parents or co-habiting.

Victor

Originally posted by Sleepy
There's far too many lazy sods just opting to take a few months off and live on my taxes.

And what about (a) the taxes they themselves have paid? (b) PRSI, not tax funds unemployemnt benfits?

RicardoSmith

I tried the route of taking low paid jobs between contracts, and all I got was,

"you're too experienced"
"you wouldn't be doing yourself justice in a role like this"
"The role isn't technical enough to make use of your skills"
"you might not be challenged enough in the role"
"I suspect this role wouldn't suit you... "
"role is really targeted at near entry level candidates."
"you are over qualified for the position"

...personally I found getting money from the social like getting blood from a stone.

marvin2k

Originally posted by RicardoSmith
I tried the route of taking low paid jobs between contracts, and all I got was,

"you're too experienced"
"you wouldn't be doing yourself justice in a role like this"
"The role isn't technical enough to make use of your skills"
"you might not be challenged enough in the role"
"I suspect this role wouldn't suit you... "
"role is really targeted at near entry level candidates."
"you are over qualified for the position"

...personally I found getting money from the social like getting blood from a stone.

I whole heartedly agree my friend , My college qualifications and loads of working experience on my CV actually seem like a deterrent to employers . They wont hire me for a minimum wage job because they think I wont stick with it long . Why would they hire a guy with a 2,1 and 600 ponits to work for them who obviously will piss off when a proper job comes up, when they could hire a foregin guy who will do the job for the rest of his life.I`m actually thinking of dumbing down my CV and painting myself black , Id have a much better chance of a job . I dont mean to sound racist , I seriously think that is the reality of it , I cant get any money off welfare ,its impossible they keep on asking me to bring in different stupid forms and evidence . I swear I`m actually expecting the pricks to ask me to bring in my homework diary from first class at this stage . they have cancelled my claim twice saying they sent out letters to me asking for specific documents . I didnt get any of these letters .I say it to them but it is there word against mine . Ive also noticed that they treat me like **** and talk down to you . I dont know why .Im just a guy finished college needing a few quid to get on my feet. Its frustrating when you see hobos pissing their dole away and immigrants who havent given anything towards tax literally waltzing in to the dole offices and getting it straight away . No one working in the dole offices seem to know whats going on . so many welfare workers have told me things that contradict what others have told me . Ive been given apponitments for interviews , Ive showed up and they,re like you should have been in a week ago for it .And get this I applied for emergency welfare , the officer wouldnt gice it to me . She called out to my house ,there was no one there so she took it upon herself to ring up the dole office and cancel my claim claiming I lied about my address , back to ****ing square one for mise . Its a ****ing circus this whole countries a ****ing mess . I swear the dole is like the lottery .Its the luck of the draw between the personality of the person you are dealing with ,wether or not they lose your forms and if they take your adress down properly. aaaaagghhhh **** here comes the Luas ,Whats it doing in my back garden ? AAAAAAGHHHHHHH

Our man in Havana

You need to lodge a complaint against the dole office. That sort of thing i have never heard of. You should appeal

uncivilservant

I'm a little rusty on social welfare procedures, but the only "stupid forms and evidence" you have to provide are

- proof of identity (eg passport; long-form birth cert)
- proof of address (such actually being there when visited by a Social Welfare Officer on a predetermined date)
- proof of what you've been doing until now (P45 or similar)
- oh and let's not forget proof that you're geniunely seeking work.

To be perfectly frank, if your tone here is any way indicative of your approach to the staff that have had the pleasure of dealing with you then i'm not surprised they weren't falling over themselves to throw buckets of cash at you.

One would have thought that someone with "a 2,1 and 600 ponits" would be capable of finding out the facts for themselves and doing something about it without running to the internet to complain first. I presume you have documentary evidence of all the conflicting information you were given, of all the demands for "stupid forms and evidence" you were asked to provide and of all the appointments you say were for the wrong dates. You shouldn't have any problems with the Social Welfare appeals system, so.

Oh and with regard to "Its frustrating when you see hobos pissing their dole away and immigrants who havent given anything towards tax literally waltzing in to the dole offices and getting it straight away." - It probably would be frustrating, if it were true. Which it's not.

ps Welcome to the real world.

parsi

Hmm..I don't think that the original irate rant deserved such a sarcastic reply.

He has some points which could be cleared up without sarcasm - proof of address was one.

I understand his point about immigrants / hobos. Anyone who has worked in a dole office has seen them come in for their weekly bobs.. we have also seen uk-migrants (also known as crusties) come in and demand their payments and be upset that the Irish system found it hard to deal with persons of no-fixed abode ("well why can't you do it like in the UK ?").

I experienced the dole office from both sides - I was signing on for 9 months before I got my job - in the same office and I found that the staff were generally good natured and efficeint. This was before the Celtic Tiger when things were busy ! I also encountered customers who were unfriendly and indeed was threatened on the street on one occasion.

So I think a little restraint and respect is due here...

btw; in my day (says ol' greybeard) a passport wasn't an accepted form of ID - onlythe long form birth cert was...go figure...

uncivilservant

I too experienced both sides of the glass partition - three years as a gentleman of leisure in the late 80's followed immediately by several years at the coalface in the same office.My comments (sarcastic or otherwise) were for the most part in relation to the original poster's second irate post.

You are correct about the passport - I never really understood that one myself.

The poster is entirely incorrect about immigrants / homeless / crusties - To the best of my knowledge it is still impossible for anyone to walk into a social welfare office and leave with their claim processed and payment made on their first visit. (Ref "waltzing in to the dole offices and getting it straight away". )

My point still stands - someone with such a fantastic education should be more than capable of navigating the social welfare system. After all, them immigrants do it and sure most of them talk the johnny foreign.

RicardoSmith

In my local social...

You have to queue up to get a number so you don't have to queue up. This takes about 30mins.
Of about 14 hatches theres at most 4 of them open.
Even if you're the next number it still takes another 15-30mins for someone to become free.
They can never find your file. Its always in the wrong place.
Every time you make a claim, even if its the 4th time that year you have to bring all the original documents down again, and they photocopy them all again.
They never answer the phone. So you have to go down in person and queue every time.
That said they are usually very nice, if a bit dim. Though I did have someone be very nasty to me a couple of times, for no reason.
Its just very inefficient.

uncivilservant

I heard that Franz Kafka is going to be the new minister for social welfare after the reshuffle.

Our man in Havana

Originally posted by uncivilservant
I heard that Franz Kafka is going to be the new minister for social welfare after the reshuffle.

LOL:D

ionapaul

What immigrants can claim social welfare? I thought only Irish and British people could get it - I suppose if we can get it in other EU countries they should get it here (no idea if we can get it over there or not).