'Cut the dole' they say: What the IMF wants, the IMF gets

thebigbiffo

http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/imf-calls-for-cut-in-dole-payments-559718.html

Social welfare benefits are too high in Ireland and need to be revised to encourage people back to work, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said.

The organisation warned that dole payments are high by international standards and responsible for “low exit rates” from the Live Register.

As the IMF forecast the economy to grow by just 0.5% this year, it said that certain welfare payments should be means-tested to avoid long-term unemployment.

The organisation – one of three bodies overseeing Ireland’s €85bn bailout – suggested people out of work should be willing to take jobs regardless of suitability.

“It is also important to ensure that jobseekers are willing and able to fill jobs when they become available,” it said.

Dead right too...*

*Runs away

i live on 101 euro a week its very hard you know i eat only once a day if im cut anymore i dunno what i will do

Casillas

Eh, encourage people to work where?

Also if the level of payments is too high, why the record emigration?

maximoose

About bloody time.

chin_grin

thebigbiffo wrote: »

Dead right too...*

*Runs away

That's right! Leave the sinking ship! :pac:

Gummy Panda

tajd wrote: »

i live on 101 euro a week its very hard you know i eat only once a day if im cut anymore i dunno what i will do

Turn to crime

Gummy Panda

Gummy Panda wrote: »

Turn to crime

lol :P no i wont

Micky Dolenz

Cutting income can only work when the cost of services and essential items come down. This is far from the case.

People get less and things cost more.

marcsignal

why don't the IMF sell their jewellery ??

NinjaK

What a load of b****x

A_Sober_Paddy

As long as they don't expect people to take up those scam door to door "jobs"

NinjaK

maximoose wrote: »

About bloody time.

I take it your on the dole and have too much money left over after the week? Fair play to you, cos if your not then your a c**t

Pushtrak

Cutting the spending power of those on the dole who aren't able to find jobs as jobs don't suddenly get created out of nothing. So, places need to let some staff go as they aren't getting the same level of business. So increasing people on the dole. Don't you just love the "genius" plans these fools come up with.

Hogzy

That would be a perfect argument if there were jobs a plenty, but there aint

marcsignal

A_Sober_Paddy wrote: »

As long as they don't expect people to take up those scam door to door "jobs"

Ah c'mon, I'd starve before I became a TV licence inspector. :pac:

Casillas

Also before slashing all around them, maybe the IMF/Government can take these figures into account - http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/0711/breaking32.html

hondasam

How much are they recommending welfare be cut? Some people seem to survive happily on it while others struggle.

ejmaztec

That's those 500000 job vacancies filled - yay!

Toby Take a Bow

thebigbiffo wrote: »

Social welfare benefits are too high in Ireland and need to be revised to encourage people back to work, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said.

This would be the same organisation who are promoting austerity, yet have yet to come up with a study that shows that austerity encourages growth.

Rango555

Yes, what Ireland needs right now is less money in the pockets of the tax payers (i.e all citizens, on dole or not) I wonder what National Resource the IMF are eyeing up when the economy is completely gone?

Chuck Stone

Why don't these pricks go after the protected species professions with as much vigour as those at the bottom of this putrid shit-heap?

Hospital Consultants, overpaid 'civil Servants', GP's and Dentists, Semi State management, PbS bureaucrats, The legal people..

golden lane

the imf....lend the money, and make the rules.....they are usually more stringent...

Judgement Day

It's a great idea, get rid of the dole altogether and overnight there will be so many jobs that we'll all have to take at least three each or the country will grind to a standstill. :rolleyes:

My name is URL

Funny how they've never suggested that our politicians take a pay cut. I mean by international standards their salaries are extraordinarily high.. even more so than welfare rates are.

To give an idea of just how out of step our dear leaders are

Poland - average MP salary = €33,000
Spain = €40,000
Portugal = €47,000
Finland = €74,000

Ireland = €103,000

And that's just basic salary. If you take into account expense allowances and actual hours worked, the gap is far far greater. But yeah.. you'll never hear a peep from the IMF about that... they wouldn't want to go upsetting the apple cart. If they make drastic cuts to welfare, while neglecting to adjust their own inflated salaries; I can see things boiling over in the near future. The ever widening gulf between classes is a disaster waiting to happen.

ejmaztec

marcsignal wrote: »

Ah c'mon, I'd starve before I became a TV licence inspector. :pac:

I wouldn't, in fact I'd supplement my diet by eating the tv licence dodgers for breakfast, and prance around in my Hugo Boss retro-fit uniform and arse-kicking boots..:p

dharma200

Huge scam the whole lot of it. Cuts to the poor, crime rates soar, suicide, child poverty, drug abuse alcoholism... violent crime/thefts.. all while the fat bstards are sitting pretty.

I am sure in the grand scheme of things the 2000+ years will be seen in History as the biggest theft from the people by the state ever. Anyone who supports 'austerity' and cutting welfare, instead of creating jobs and seeking a higher standard of life for the people in the country and progression really is very very shortsighted.

PickledLime

Hogzy wrote: »

That would be a perfect argument if there were jobs a plenty, but there aint

During the boom years - cut away!

Have they not realised that the bulk of people (yes, i know there's the 'career dole merchants', but they've been on it long before the recession) on the dole are there because, you know, there are no jobs?

It's not like an extra 10% of the population decided "hey, i've got kids, mortgage, car loans, college repayments, bills, bills and more bills, the dole is a mint amount, i'm gonna quit my job!".

Complete f*ckwits making these decisions. Were probably all born with silver spoons in their mouths anyway.

christmas2012

Eh, encourage people to work where?

Also if the level of payments is too high, why the record emigration?

Thats right there are scarce jobs out there now,how is cutting the dole automatically going to make more work in the country,clearly they havent thought it through..

The cost of services and products are still at celtic tiger rates,you dont get as much for your money,its time these clowns should do an experiment live on the dole for 3 months and see how they fair out..

Scioch

Shur just shut it off altogether and we'll all go back to work. Problem solved, thanks IMF

A_Sober_Paddy

Would have to agree with the lack of jobs around... especially in Limerick.

I've been on the dole for nearly a year and I've been applying for work, and I've even stepped up my efforts in the last 2 weeks.

It seems that it really is who you know, if you what to get a job in this city.

Serious pain in the arse

mikemac1

responsible for “low exit rates” from the Live Register.

What jobs?

We've gone from 4% to 14% in a short space of time, did they all jack in their jobs after a wave of laziness hit every part of Ireland?

The IMF are as out of touch as those boyos in the Dáil


There are lifelong slackers, of course they exist but records exist too, Joan Burton knows who they are.

thurman

What about giving grants to businesses that hire people.€ basically cut the dole and use the money saved to fund the grants. Now the grants are used to pay the new staff, those new staff pay income tax and spend money so the goberment cut the dole queues, get income tax revenue and vat revenue. Everyone wins.

Hulk Hands

tajd wrote: »

i live on 101 euro a week its very hard you know i eat only once a day if im cut anymore i dunno what i will do

Decide if the internet connection and computer you're using is more important than food

Scioch

christmas2012 wrote: »

Thats right there are scarce jobs out there now,how is cutting the dole automatically going to make more work in the country,clearly they havent thought it through..

The cost of services and products are still at celtic tiger rates,you dont get as much for your money,its time these clowns should do an experiment live on the dole for 3 months and see how they fair out..

Its going to do the opposite, average joe wont be buying that bag of coal or new trousers. Coal man and Trouser Boy get laid off, they stop buying as much and so on and so forth. 5 years time we'll still be digging ourselves deeper into depression.

dlofnep

The high unemployment rate is due to lack of jobs, not high social welfare payments. If they want to try live on €187 a week, they are more than welcome to try.

christmas2012

There should be a better system in place instead of FAS and JOBBRIDGE,these quangos are whats making the dole tax bill so expensive..And these quangos go on to steal jobs from the community and create unemployment..Targeting the most vunerable unemployed in our community..

Guy:Incognito

Micky Dolenz wrote: »

Cutting income can only work when the cost of services and essential items come down. This is far from the case.

People get less and things cost more.

Things are not 100% more expensive than the UK (essentials, which is what the dole is for).


I'm on the dole btw and I'll admit it's too high.

Qualitymark

Plenty of room for savings in other areas; for instance, if civil servants didn't get free parking, it would bring around €10,000 a year per civil servant into the economy.

Dubhlinner

its far too high for a lot of people on it. unfortunately for some genuine people its not enough.

ejmaztec

mikemac1 wrote: »

What jobs?

We've gone from 4% to 14% in a short space of time, did they all jack in their jobs after a wave of laziness hit every part of Ireland?

The IMF are as out of touch as those boyos in the Dáil


There are lifelong slackers, of course they exist but records exist, Joan Burton knows who they are.
So go tackle them instead of working people

I don't think that any one of them is short of a few quid, even those getting paid less than the going rate. Most have them have had privileged up-bringings as part of loaded political dynasties or other parish-pump connections.

Drumpot

Methinks the Government are using the IMF to avoid having to properly address other facets of its expenses . . The welfare bill only went up a small fraction (from what I hear) between 2008 and 2012 so that expense is not mainly down to increased unemployment.

Wont even bother saying where else the government should save a few Euro as its perceived as "attacking" people and usually leads to certain individuals trolling and ruining threads with angry pointless rhetoric . . . :rolleyes:

davet82

thebigbiffo wrote: »

The organisation warned that dole payments are high by international standards and responsible for “low exit rates” from the Live Register.

I wonder how the cost of living is in Ireland by international standards too?

mikemac1

Qualitymark wrote: »

Plenty of room for savings in other areas; for instance, if civil servants didn't get free parking, it would bring around €10,000 a year per civil servant into the economy.

I thought that was sorted

Didn't they bring in benefit in kind tax for €200 a year per space?

A_Sober_Paddy

davet82 wrote: »

I wonder how the cost of living is in Ireland by international standards too?

Well Dublin is one of the more expensive cities in the world:eek:

PhatPiggins

Micky Dolenz wrote: »

Cutting income can only work when the cost of services and essential items come down. This is far from the case.

People get less and things cost more.

If you cut income and the cost of services and essentials then essentially there is no incentive to get off welfare as you're still getting the same amount of services/products for your money. The idea is that if you give out less money, people can buy less stuff and will be more inclined to find work. Well that's the theory anyway.

Dubhlinner

Qualitymark wrote: »

Plenty of room for savings in other areas; for instance, if civil servants didn't get free parking, it would bring around €10,000 a year per civil servant into the economy.

how in the name of god would it do that?

martomcg

sure why not leave the payments as they are and just increases taxes even more?

come off it!

The welfare system is a corrupt hole that money disappears into. Means testing all applicants will limit the number of people scamming to receive multiple benefits and deter people who are happy sitting on E187 for doing nothing compared to E300 for a full weeks work.

I reckon a system like the Swedish one is implemented. Payments start off high and are tapered the longer your on it until it eventually reaches a base low level. Be surprising the amount of people who would find jobs if they knew the cash flow would stop in a couple of weeks....

How many people are on welfare who've never worked a day in their lives?

The system needs serious reform and it is way outside the ability of any Irish government to make the decisions necessary to get it to work.

Casillas

martomcg wrote: »

How many people are on welfare who've never worked a day in their lives?

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/chart.png?s=ieuert&d1=20100101&d2=20120718

davet82

A_Sober_Paddy wrote: »

Well Dublin is one of the more expensive cities in the world:eek:

well there you go, expensive cost of living = expensive dole

Toby Take a Bow

Hulk Hands wrote: »

Decide if the internet connection and computer you're using is more important than food

When I was unemployed the FAS offices allowed for free internet (and, obviously, a computer to use it on). Note how it was free.

But, regardless of that, in 2012, access to a computer for keeping track of jobs and things is kind of essential.

up for anything

martomcg wrote: »

How many people are on welfare who've never worked a day in their lives?

How about you go away, find out, then come back and tell us so you have some basis to your argument.