The dole is too much!!

SV

zillmere wrote: »

Why don't the government allow you to top up your dole with money from your pension fund?

because that would be logical.
and this government refuses to be logical.

tis part of FFs policy didn't you know?

Mossy Monk

Dole is too much? LOL

sunnyside

EKRIUQ wrote: »

The entitlements, not a fortune but more than I ever got when I moved into a new house. And this money doesn't have to pay for any of the goods as the money is transfered directly into the persons bank account once thay have a quotes from a furniture or electrical store. I Know of at least €20,000 (It works about €3,000 for a new council house) that didn't go on the things it should of

http://img214.imageshack.us/my.php?image=00000001pj7.jpg

Note: These are 2007 guidelines and they have gone up after each budget

Oh my God!!! Is that just for council houses? I could do with some new furniture and it would take me ages to save that. I almost want to loose my job now.

deadhead13

In 2009 unemployment could pass 10%, there is the equivalent of the DELL job losses happening every month. These people have lost their job jobs through no fault of their own, have contirbuted by paying tax throughout the boom and are now entitled to state assistance.

Jobs are going to be increasingly hard to find for the foreseeable future. There just isn't going to be a choice between being on the dole or being in work for the vast amount of people currently being laid off.

Yes, a minority take the piss but it is up to the government to have the political will to tackle benifit fraud - not penalise people who have fallen on hard times.

the_syco

You have to save like a f**ker when on the dole, as when you start a job, that pays monthly, YOU ARE FUCKED. You suddenly have only the funds that you saved up to do you, and that is usually feck all, as the €197 was spent on food, travel to job interviews, bills, etc.

janullrich

Thank you Deadhead. At least somebody is talking sense about the dole. To those who think it is too much try living on the damn thing. I PAID my taxes. Now when I've lost my job I expect the government to help me till I try to find something or set something up.

CamperMan

I know a few people on the dole and they LOVE IT... one guy gets most of his €700 a month rent paid, gets a few hundred a week spending money for himself and the mrs...sits at home most of the time or goes to the pub for a fews drinks... he sees no point in working and has told me he is better off now than he ever was when working... then there's all the perks.... christmas bonus... free gas, coal.... or whatever they get... the dole money should be cut and get the spongers earning there money...

Was it €200 million the government handed out at Christmas time to the dole claimers in bonuses??? that money could have gone to building schools or putting into the health service..

deadhead13

CamperMan wrote: »

I know a few people on the dole and they LOVE IT... one guy gets most of his €700 a month rent paid, gets a few hundred a week spending money for himself and the mrs...sits at home most of the time or goes to the pub for a fews drinks... he sees no point in working and has told me he is better off now than he ever was when working... then there's all the perks.... christmas bonus... free gas, coal.... or whatever they get... the dole money should be cut and get the spongers earning there money...

Was it €200 million the government handed out at Christmas time to the dole claimers in bonuses??? that money could have gone to building schools or putting into the health service..

Where have you been living, unemployment has jumped from 4% to 8% in the last year. Just because a couple of people you know are living the life of Reilly on the dole - oh then of course the other 291,363 currently unemployed must be doing the same. Don't you get it - there are no jobs out there.

SV

deadhead13 wrote: »

Where have you been living, unemployment has jumped from 4% to 8% in the last year. Just because a couple of people you know are living the life of Reilly on the dole - oh then of course the other 291,363 currently unemployed must be doing the same. Don't you get it - there are no jobs out there.

There's jobs out there, if you aren't too proud.

and considering the current climate, go fúck yourself if you think your pride matters.*






*not aimed at you, unless you are too proud.

deadhead13

Throughout the boom we had almost full employment which meant there where more jobs than people to fill them. We are now way past that. Much more jobs are being lost than being created. There are not enough jobs vacancies to match the number of people unemployed .Pride has got f**k all to do with it.

SV

deadhead13 wrote: »

Throughout the boom we had almost full employment which meant there where more jobs than people to fill them. We are now way past that. Much more jobs are being lost than being created. There are not enough jobs vacancies to match the number of people unemployed .Pride has got f**k all to do with it.

They've been looking for employees to work in McDonalds here the past couple of months. Still are too.

funny that.
i realise that there is still more people than jobs available, however, there are still vacant jobs for the taking.

Dint forget..if you are working for a living on that sort of money,a visit to the doctor can clean you out..120 quid for consultation,prescriptions and drugs.

That's the thing that got me annoyed about the whole medical card situation. I was working full time in a call centre making just above minimum wage and commuting about 1.5 hours each way. I had to take time off work, and therefore lose pay, to go to the doctor, and pay 50 euro just to see him and then outrageous prescription charges. Just seemed so unfair that I was earning so little and got no discount of any kind while piles of knackers were coming in with medical cards. It was the first time I'd really felt that way and started to think 'what's the point'? I really did feel like a mug for working so hard. I was making less than 300 a week after tax, and nobody was giving me this or that allowance. At the same time, I'd be so bored sitting around all day and I wouldn't want to do it if I could help it.

badabinbadaboom

Just to clear this up.

There are very few jobs out there for anyone!!
I have no leaving cert or trade and I have been looking for work since January the kind of jobs I am used to working are labouring or operative work, the lowest on the ladder, so I have no problem with "pride" and i cant find a job. People who say there are jobs there if you lower your standards obviously have jobs and dont fully grasp the current situation.
The labour jobs are almost always the first to go.

Agent Smith

Cut it off after 6 months, and make people after that do stuff like cut public grass, remove grafitti, and let them do that for 200 a week, i'm pretty sure the idea of working in dunnes or macdonalds will appeal to them more

badabinbadaboom

ClioV6 wrote: »

They've been looking for employees to work in McDonalds here the past couple of months.

Hmmm....

CamperMan

deadhead13 wrote: »

Where have you been living, unemployment has jumped from 4% to 8% in the last year. Just because a couple of people you know are living the life of Reilly on the dole - oh then of course the other 291,363 currently unemployed must be doing the same. Don't you get it - there are no jobs out there.

dole money should be cut by about 50% and anyone that has been scrounging longer than 6 months should be made to clean the streets or help old people clean there homes, or maintain public parks, etc... they should work for the dole money... all those builders on the dole... should be made to build schools for what they get paid the dole... plumbers out of work... maybe they can service all the government systems for the money they get, no excuses...

I am busting my nuts here in this "recession", I have to work very hard to keep food on the table, a roof over our heads.. and I can tell you, there is work out there, be it employed or self employed.... you have to get off your a**e and look for it..

deadhead13

ClioV6 wrote: »

They've been looking for employees to work in McDonalds here the past couple of months. Still are too.

funny that.
i realise that there is still more people than jobs available, however, there are still vacant jobs for the taking.

We are facing the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression and your suggesting that a handful of unfilled vacancys in McDonalds proves the the unemployed really don't want to work, are too proud and it was their fault they lost their jobs in the first place.

CamperMan

Agent Smith wrote: »

Cut it off after 6 months, and make people after that do stuff like cut public grass, remove grafitti, and let them do that for 200 a week, i'm pretty sure the idea of working in dunnes or macdonalds will appeal to them more

you got there first

great idea...

tiger325

what bothers me is that is it really there for the people that need it?

Ross_Mahon

I work 13 hours a week and i get 147.03, I would be better off on the dole! :rolleyes:

Johnny Volume

CamperMan wrote: »

I am busting my nuts here in this "recession", I have to work very hard to keep food on the table, a roof over our heads.. and I can tell you, there is work out there, be it employed or self employed.... you have to get off your a**e and look for it..

So you're the man keepin this country afloat. I knew there had to be one. Brian Lenihan must have been referring to you when he made that 'patriotic call to arms' budget speech

Johnny Volume

Ross_Mahon wrote: »

I work 13 hours a week and i get 147.03, I would be better off on the dole! :rolleyes:

Why don't you work a full week and see what you come out with then?

sassa

It's so easy to say if I lost my job I'd do this that and the other to earn a living but if you lost yours and had to sign on to provide some sort of life for your family how would you feel? having to go clean up the mess on the streets on a sunday morning would it make you feel entitled to your money? would you feel better or would you feel so depressed that one day you had a nice job great wages next you're surviving on 200 a week cleaning dog **** off the road. You would be disgusted with yourself and be angry and loathe your bloody life! would it make you want to look for work or break you completely? You tell honest people on the dole they should be out sweeping streets for their money etc when they're at their lowest. majority of people do not want to be unemployed and people that say things like have been said here create a stigma that make people ashamed to look for help. I know a lot of people that have let themselves slip deep into debt because they didnt want to be seen as "dole scum" by others!
also: not slagging off council workers by the way but they wouldnt do the work they have to do for 200 and I damn well wouldnt expect anyone to.

taram

Johnny Volume wrote: »

Why don't you work a full week and see what you come out with then?

Not sure about McDonald's, but I work in a chain of shops and no one, not even the girls who've been here 5 years work more than 25 hours a week at the moment, most people are on 14 hours. The hours just aren't there, I was on more hours when working part time in school. And for those who say we need to decrease the minimum wage, that won't work, it'll just **** over those at the bottom of the ladder.

At the moment I'm paying 100/month on prescribed medication, another 20 or so on additional medical things, 30 a month for my GP visit and blood tests, my VHI and then my private consultants charges every few months atop of that. That's before I get the bus or eat a bite of food. Meh, depressed now.

Johnny Volume

CamperMan wrote: »

dole money should be cut by about 50% and anyone that has been scrounging longer than 6 months should be made to clean the streets or help old people clean there homes, or maintain public parks, etc... they should work for the dole money... all those builders on the dole... should be made to build schools for what they get paid the dole... plumbers out of work... maybe they can service all the government systems for the money they get, no excuses...

why don't you chain them all together and get them to wear orange jumpsuits while you're at it??

Sleepy

To those whinging about mortgage payments in this thread: why should the taxpayer cover your mortgage? If you bought within the last decade or so, you chose to buy an over-priced house, that's nobody's fault but your own. If you're lucky you've got some equity there to help you out in your time of need. Sure, the guy on the dole might have more "discretionary" income at the end of the week than you do but you're buying your house whilst he's living in a flat/house share... What is it with this country that makes people think that owning your own home is a god-given entitlement?

That said, I do believe the dole should be on a sliding scale based on length of employment (not amount of tax paid - higher earners can reasonably be expected to have acquired more wealth during their employment) with those who have no employment history receiving an absolute bare minimum - e.g. social housing and food vouchers.

Fully support the idea of having dole-recipients do community service or part-time in public sector roles (might shake some sense into some of our unions) in exchange for higher levels of welfare payment. At the very worst, our country should end up cleaner / with better infrastructure / more attractive to tourists and at best, these schemes could be used to upskill or maintain skill levels of those receiving benefit. I don't accept the argument that you'd be putting people out of work - some areas just haven't been considered worthy of spending state money on even during the boom years. There may be a number of street cleaners working for the councils etc. but judging by the state of our streets / beaches / public spaces there's plenty of room for more help. The same could be said for care assistants, maintenance people for schools / hospitals etc., clerical assistants in the Gardai, community work in under-priveleged areas even things like public defense/pro-bono representation of those who can't afford legal help or qualify for legal aid; provision of IT services to charities etc. etc. etc. etc.

deadhead13

Haven't seen anybody suggest their mortgage should be paid by the government now that they are unemployed.

The amount of unemployment benifit you receive is already link to how long you have been paying tax ie stamps paid.

How much do you think such a scheme for nearly 300,000 people would cost. The government would essentially be employing these people and would have to pay them accordingly.

drunkdaz

Bottle_of_Smoke wrote: »

Dole here E204, UK around £45. Minimum wage here E8.65, in UK £5.73.... something's gotta give.

Its actually £47.95 for those aged 16 - 24, and £60.50 for those 25 or over. I'm living in London and was made redundant a few months ago. Luckily I was wise enough to save some money while I was working, so I get no dole. Yes, zero.

Nehaxak wrote: »

Yeah but the cost of living here, even just for basic food items, is an awful lot more than in the UK.

Still don't think the dole should be dropped in amount until at least the cost of living has dropped significantly.

Oh come on, the cost of living isn't anywhere near as bad as the rags make out. I find even Dublin pretty cheap when I come home. Everyone running up to Northern Ireland to do their christmas shopping is a result of an FX swing.
A few examples. My rent (a room in a 4 bed house, north London) is £195 per week. My travel card is £30 per week.

Everyone should have some help when they loose their jobs, but €200 after rent and other benefits is just pulling the p*ss. Nobody seems to be able to say why it should be relatively higher in Ireland. I'd come home and claim it but I have some morals.
The government has spent years throwing money around, Irish tax payers are being taken for a ride. Though many people on this thread seem to be happy with this....

SV

deadhead13 wrote: »

We are facing the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression and your suggesting that a handful of unfilled vacancys in McDonalds proves the the unemployed really don't want to work, are too proud and it was their fault they lost their jobs in the first place.

Eh, sorry?
I never said that whatsoever.
Nice job at twisting my words though.

deadhead13

In the grand scheme of things, the fact that there are a few unfilled jobs at MacDonalds means f**k all.