Newbies to the Dreaded Dole?

ppink

Hi

Any newbies out there to the dreaded dole Q? How are you finding it?

popebenny16

interesting question....

Mr E

Give us your perspective, ppink.
Why do you ask?

ppink

finding it quite difficult i think! Traumatic even. not just the Q the whole no job thing!

when i first signed on i could not really get over the whole lack of privacy in the main office in clonmel. was in the queue waiting and i could hear every question and every answer of the person in front of me.....it shocked me a bit to be honest as up until recently I had no idea even where the office was.
It certainly is a place I do not like visiting.:( It actually remeinds me a little of hospital......leave your feelings/shred of dignity at the door and pick them up on the way out;)

Ponster

ppink, you should come to France to claim your dole....

Firstly you don't actually claim as such. You sign-on at the agency just once, and they lodge the money directly in your bank account. For those that don't have a bank account they have their own 'account's and each branch has an ATM. So you get a 'bank card' that allows you to withdraw your money whenever you like. No cash in hand.

After the first sign-on you can do the following ones (every 2 weeks) by telephone or even on their Internet site. Once my wife forgot to sign and they called her to say that she had forgotten but it was ok 'cos they did it for her

pooch90

ppink wrote: »

finding it quite difficult i think! Traumatic even. not just the Q the whole no job thing!

when i first signed on i could not really get over the whole lack of privacy in the main office in clonmel. was in the queue waiting and i could hear every question and every answer of the person in front of me.....it shocked me a bit to be honest as up until recently I had no idea even where the office was.
It certainly is a place I do not like visiting.:( It actually remeinds me a little of hospital......leave your feelings/shred of dignity at the door and pick them up on the way out;)

Know exactly what you mean, i'm in and out of work constantly (teacher) and absolutely hate setting foot in the place. The staff don't seem to have a clue about what to do with me either so lots of extremely loud conversations held about me for all to hear. Easiest place in the world to steal someone's identity! Also hate the way I'm treated like scum in there. I have two degrees and a diploma but yet "Would you do a FAS course?" a FAS course in what???

Then you get the gestapo ie means tester calling to your house, made me basically wait around my house for the best part of two months, in case she came!! By the time she was done with her inquisition "What is your relationship to your landlord?Are you having a relationship with him? This one's the kicker "Why not?" I was nearly convinced that I had some deep rooted love for the man!

Then you get the tracksuit clad queue hoppers strolling in, who know everyone by name. Walk past everyone who has been waiting for the last half hour "Well Mary gurl, I need ya to sign dese for me". Don't even glance at the fuming, well mannered people waiting.

Ppink, have you had to go to the signing days yet? That's a trauma-queue comes right out onto the street where everyone can have a good gawk at you, you spend an hour in that queue, then when you get closer to the door you discover there's meant to be two queues and you could have by-passed everyone.

Sorry for the rant but I absolutely hate hate hate all of it. Why do they feel it's ok to treat people with such disregard? Personally I think there should be two separate offices-one for the people who genuinely want to work and would rather rot than spend any longer on the dole than is necessary and one for the lazy scum who haven't gotten up off their holes in the past 7 years to even try. The ones who I've seen walk into the Chinese say "Any jobs going?" in the roughest, most threatening way they could. When scared little lady(normally) says no, they throw a form at her and say "Sign this to say that i asked" and strolls out of the place.

End rant---sorry!!

ppink

Ponster- i am checking ryanair flights as we speak;) How polar opposite the systems are!

Pooch90- hahaha you made me laugh about the whole sorry situation for the first time in ages:). It is a disaster of a place! I know what you mean about the "hardliners"! You can feel the eyes boring intot he back of your head sometimes:eek:
I went to Fas and they aid " Well of course you know we cannot help you!"......i am sure you got that too.

I did the queue for signing.............phewwwwwwww! that is an experience alright. It must have been go slow day as i was at the front of the queue but going nowhere for 20mins!
"Are you actively seeking work?" ........Ah no! sure i love the fact that i am getting peanuts to be humiliated every week:rolleyes:

pooch90

What i love is when i go down to sign on for the summer (I don't get paid) and they're nearly disappointed in me for not working. "Are you available for work?" Eh, schools are closed dumbass! Also love when they act superior to me, telling me I'm not entitled to money for reason X and reason Y, with the smug look on their face. Not going to grovel for crap money that they act is actually coming out of their own grubby little hands.

I didn't even bother going to FAS, what would the point be? Do a safe pass course?computer course? None of these will help me in getting a job until the bull**** educational system is sorted out. I love the "are you actively seeking work?" question, I apply for over 80 jobs every summer and keep every Please F off letter i get, just to throw at them. Snotty sh*tehawks!

premierstone

pooch90 wrote: »

What i love is when i go down to sign on for the summer (I don't get paid) and they're nearly disappointed in me for not working. "Are you available for work?" Eh, schools are closed dumbass! Also love when they act superior to me, telling me I'm not entitled to money for reason X and reason Y, with the smug look on their face. I just sit there smiling, safe in the knowledge that I'm better educated than they will ever be. Yeah, i am a bit of a snob but I hate being looked down on by idiots who don't know how to do their job. Not going to grovel for crap money that they act is actually coming out of their own grubby little hands.

I didn't even bother going to FAS, what would the point be? Do a safe pass course?computer course? None of these will help me in getting a job until the bull**** educational system is sorted out. I love the "are you actively seeking work?" question, I apply for over 80 jobs every summer and keep every Please F off letter i get, just to throw at them. Snotty sh*tehawks!

I appreciate your frustration but have you ever tried to look at it from their perspective, they are obliged to ask you all those questions just like anyone else that is signing on, dont blame the messenger blame the system and the cretins that abused it for years and still do.

Trust me I know plenty of people who work in social welfare and it is a horrible horrible job, oh and btw yes you do sound like a snob with your ''im more qualified than they ever will be '' sh*te, cant say im too suprised you have difficulty finding work, and cant say you would be my first choice as someone I would like educating my child.

pooch90

premierstone wrote: »

I appreciate your frustration but have you ever tried to look at it from their perspective, they are obliged to ask you all those questions just like anyone else that is signing on, dont blame the messenger blame the system and the cretins that abused it for years and still do.

Trust me I know plenty of people who work in social welfare and it is a horrible horrible job, oh and btw yes you do sound like a snob with your ''im more qualified than they ever will be '' sh*te, cant say im too suprised you have difficulty finding work, and cant say you would be my first choice as someone I would like educating my child.

Do you know every single one of the people who work there? have you had to deal with 95% of them? Have you had constant visits from means testers poking into every aspect of your life and dragging up old relationships and inquiring why you broke up, where they are and all the agony of the situation scrutinised? Am I sleeping with my landlord?? ffs! I didn't for one minute say it was everybody there, and yes I know they have questions that need to be asked but some stuff is simply none of their bloody business.

I've paid my tax and PRSI and every other levy that's been thrown at me, I don't expect to be treated like the aforementioned cretins that abuse the system. I also expect that when I go to the office, which sometimes is every day for a fortnight, that someone will actually know the procedure to follow and that my personal situation will not be shouted from the rooftops.


Common sense and someone's right to some semblance of privacy is not a matter of obligation to ask questions on their part, it's a matter of cop on. Mary here, her PPS number is 11111111, lives in X, is a X, has broken up with her boyfriend. His name is Tom, his PPS number is 222222 Come On! as if there aren't other people listening, and then they get you to read out your bank account details nice and loud. Ad yes, they may be cretins but some people would have the sick twisted mind to take note of every bit of that information. Why bother shredding your paperwork at home when you can just go down to the dole office and shout it all out, in the presence of the fine, upstanding people around you(not all obviously)