Garda Sergeant can't afford food

MagicSean

Bannasidhe wrote: »

But it's not SFA- this Garda's wife (if she exists) gave permission for edited details of her families finances to be published in a national newspaper seemingly unaware that to a great many people this family is on a good income far in excess of the national average. So people managing on a lot less got PO'd and studied the figures supplied and reckoned they simply don't add up.

As for medical expenses - wasn't health insurance included in the figures supplied so I am a bit puzzled as to how this family could have excessive medical bills.

Like I said, ignorance. An injury on duty is not covered by medical insurance. The person must pay for treatment themselves and either sue the state for compensation. In some cases the exoenses will be refunded through a scheme set up for Gardaí but there are limits on where this scheme applies. Medical insurance also doesn't cover injuries from road traffic accidents where a third party is liable.

The figures supplied are incomplete at best. They allow for much speculation. Whenever people have thrown any light on them and provided information it was ignored. Completely pointless thread and news story.

pickarooney

MagicSean wrote: »

Like I said, ignorance. An injury on duty is not covered by medical insurance. The person must pay for treatment themselves and either sue the state for compensation.

This is the most bat**** crazy thing I have ever heard. I'm not saying I don't believe, but it's nuts.

Potential-Monke

pickarooney wrote: »

This is the most bat**** crazy thing I have ever heard. I'm not saying I don't believe, but it's nuts.

Oh it's spot on. You get the bills and have to make a claim against the state, the state who is getting tougher on what constitutes injuries on duty these days.

Bannasidhe

Potential-Monke wrote: »

Oh it's spot on. You get the bills and have to make a claim against the state, the state who is getting tougher on what constitutes injuries on duty these days.

So one makes a claim against ones employer if injured at work?

Private sector employees have to do this - many have to resort to the courts.
The only difference here is that in the case of Gardaí their employer is the State.

Potential-Monke

Bannasidhe wrote: »

So one makes a claim against ones employer if injured at work?

Private sector employees have to do this - many have to resort to the courts.
The only difference here is that in the case of Gardaí their employer is the State.

Aye, but there are not many jobs in the private sector where getting injured is nearly part of the job. In the private sector, you most likely have an accident due to negligence, in the Gardai getting assaulted is a possibility for every call (yes, every call, even the nice old ladies reporting their missing cat can turn on you).

Chucky the tree

MagicSean wrote: »

I have an issue with people making assumptions about his personal finances based on sfa. 40k to support a family of four is not a lot, even with the child benefit payments. This is especially true if the children are in their late teens. People are assuming that he has personla debts from a secong house or a few nice cars. It's just as possible they are for medical expenses from an injury he received on duty but it's not even been considered here. The majority of the posts on this thread have shown a lot of ignorance with one poster calling the sergeants wife a "liar" because he didn't think that gardai got a weekly payment.

It's not SFA though. There was a detailed list of expenditures going out. €200 a week on food is a joke tbh, not to mention a load of other ones. It's obvious this family is completely incompetent budgeting and that's what people take issue with.

Bannasidhe

Potential-Monke wrote: »

Aye, but there are not many jobs in the private sector where getting injured is nearly part of the job. In the private sector, you most likely have an accident due to negligence, in the Gardai getting assaulted is a possibility for every call (yes, every call, even the nice old ladies reporting their missing cat can turn on you).

Well during my time as a chef I saw people end up with terrible injuries including 3rd degree scalds to genitals and legs when a stockpot tap blew off, loss of fingers, serious electrocution leading to permanent nerve damage plus burns and cuts were commonplace etc. Any chef who sued their employer would be unlikely to ever get a job in the hospitality industry again.


The volunteers of the RNLI risk their lives and don't even get paid for it.

More people die in construction and farming then Gardaí die in the line of duty.

Bouncers are regularly attacked by drunken punters. My 6 foot 5 brother in law was hospitalised when working as a bouncer when he was glassed in the back.

My father and all my uncles were bakers and their arms and chests are riddled with burn scars.

Potential-Monke

Bannasidhe wrote: »

Well during my time as a chef I saw people end up with terrible injuries including 3rd degree scalds to genitals and legs when a stockpot tap blew off, loss of fingers, serious electrocution leading to permanent nerve damage plus burns and cuts were commonplace etc. Any chef who sued their employer would be unlikely to ever get a job in the hospitality industry again.

All accidents, none of which the chefs were expecting.

Bannasidhe wrote: »

The volunteers of the RNLI risk their lives and don't even get paid for it.

And?

Bannasidhe wrote: »

More people die in construction and farming then Gardaí die in the line of duty.

In accidents. How many of them were shot by a criminal organisation intent on shutting someone up?

Bannasidhe wrote: »

Bouncers are regularly attacked by drunken punters. My 6 foot 5 brother in law was hospitalised when working as a bouncer when he was glassed in the back.

This is one of the "not many" that i was referring to.

Bannasidhe wrote: »

My father and all my uncles were bakers and their arms and chests are riddled with burn scars.

Again, accidents. I'm not taking away from any of these accidents, some accidents are horrific and can lead to death. But Gardai expect to get injured at the next call. You know if you're putting something into an oven you could get burned. You know working with knives you can get cut, but you can't know that the woman you're talking to that just got beat up by her husband could turn instantly out of nowhere and come at you with a knife. You expect it, but you can't know it.

I'm not getting into a conversation about which jobs are more dangerous than others, everyone thinks their own job can be more dangerous. The matter of the fact is that Gardai have to go head first into situations which could leave them seriously injured, or worse.

tayto lover

Bannasidhe wrote: »

Well during my time as a chef I saw people end up with terrible injuries including 3rd degree scalds to genitals and legs when a stockpot tap blew off, loss of fingers, serious electrocution leading to permanent nerve damage plus burns and cuts were commonplace etc. Any chef who sued their employer would be unlikely to ever get a job in the hospitality industry again.


The volunteers of the RNLI risk their lives and don't even get paid for it.

More people die in construction and farming then Gardaí die in the line of duty.

Bouncers are regularly attacked by drunken punters. My 6 foot 5 brother in law was hospitalised when working as a bouncer when he was glassed in the back.

My father and all my uncles were bakers and their arms and chests are riddled with burn scars.

The glaring difference is that those are accidents and i'd assume most of the garda injuries are deliberately inflicted on them while they are after all serving the state.

Bannasidhe

Potential-Monke wrote: »

All accidents, none of which the chefs were expecting.




And?



In accidents. How many of them were shot by a criminal organisation intent on shutting someone up?



This is one of the "not many" that i was referring to.



Again, accidents. I'm not taking away from any of these accidents, some accidents are horrific and can lead to death. But Gardai expect to get injured at the next call. You know if you're putting something into an oven you could get burned. You know working with knives you can get cut, but you can't know that the woman you're talking to that just got beat up by her husband could turn instantly out of nowhere and come at you with a knife. You expect it, but you can't know it.

I'm not getting into a conversation about which jobs are more dangerous than others, everyone thinks their own job can be more dangerous. The matter of the fact is that Gardai have to go head first into situations which could leave them seriously injured, or worse.

tayto lover wrote: »

The glaring difference is that those are accidents and i'd assume most of the garda injuries are deliberately inflicted on them while they are after all serving the state.

I can only speak for chefs and cuts and burns are part and parcel of the job with the added if one sues one will not get another job.

What about the respiratory illnesses associated with working in a dry cleaners? They are not accidental - exposure to dangerous chemicals goes with the job.


My point is that a wide variety of jobs- public and private - have inherent dangers attached and it does the debate no good to act as if Gardaí are the only profession which has dangers attached. What about Firefighters?

Japer

You do not have to be a Garda to be attacked / injured. I know a private security man who was attacked. Also a shopkeeper who was assaulted because he stopped a shoplifter. And injuries happen in lots of different lines of work, some of which are probably more dangerous than the Gardai eg deep sea fishing, roofing contractor. More farmers are killed at work too than are Gardai. Many people do not get paid sick leave, double the average industrial wage and a golden pension....but yet they do not whinge about their lot to the Irish Times.

miss no stars

Chucky the tree wrote: »

It's not SFA though. There was a detailed list of expenditures going out. €200 a week on food is a joke tbh, not to mention a load of other ones. It's obvious this family is completely incompetent budgeting and that's what people take issue with.

Actually the €200 a week (or 10400pa) refers to "Food/Housekeeping", which, by the time you've paid for deodorants, clothing detergent, toilet paper, bin liners, washing up liquid, tin foil, napkins, kitchen towels, bleach, soap, shampoo, conditioner, cling film, cat/dog food (can't hand the family pet back just cos overtime got cut), rubber gloves, new mop head, tampons/pads, toothpaste and toothbrushes, shaving foam, razor blades, generic brand flash, washing up sponges, jcloths and all the other random stuff that goes in with the weekly shop on an occasional basis, as well as breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks for 4 people, then yes, you are up to €200 a week. Actually, my mum asked a girl at the checkout how much people seemed to spend per week and she said that people with families tended to spend about €180+ per week and then you'd see them in for bits and pieces once or twice more per week (more bread, milk, ran out of nappies whatever) so the estimate of €200 to keep a family in food and household supplies isn't off the mark. Like it or not, the stuff listed above has to be bought when it runs out.

El Weirdo

Japer wrote: »

You do not have to be a Garda to be attacked / injured. I know a private security man who was attacked. Also a shopkeeper who was assaulted because he stopped a shoplifter. And injuries happen in lots of different lines of work, some of which are probably more dangerous than the Gardai eg deep sea fishing, roofing contractor. More farmers are killed at work too than are Gardai. Many people do not get paid sick leave, double the average industrial wage and a golden pension....but yet they do not whinge about their lot to the Irish Times.

Banned.

Madam_X

Sorcha16 wrote: »

Homeless people can't afford food all the time but nobody seems to care about that

Does "nobody" include you?

Manny Pacquiao wrote: »

Very hard to convince people you're paying taxes when you're on Boards.ie at hours that conflict with normal working hours (witnessed from previous posts)

Not that hard to convince, no. You have posted during normal working hours also. Barrel-scraping tbh. That's what really anti public sector peeps do though.

tayto lover

Potential-Monke wrote: »

Aye, but there are not many jobs in the private sector where getting injured is nearly part of the job. In the private sector, you most likely have an accident due to negligence, in the Gardai getting assaulted is a possibility for every call (yes, every call, even the nice old ladies reporting their missing cat can turn on you).

Used to live beside a nurse who was badly bitten by a mental patient omne day. She had to have a series of injections to protect her against infection and had an awful time over it. It was no consolation to her family that she was injured in the process of doing her work.
I wonder if that patient posts on here now

tayto lover

Bannasidhe wrote: »

I can only speak for chefs and cuts and burns are part and parcel of the job with the added if one sues one will not get another job.

What about the respiratory illnesses associated with working in a dry cleaners? They are not accidental - exposure to dangerous chemicals goes with the job.


My point is that a wide variety of jobs- public and private - have inherent dangers attached and it does the debate no good to act as if Gardaí are the only profession which has dangers attached. What about Firefighters?

Army, firefighters and prison officers are in the same boat as the garda as they also work on behalf of the state. I don't recall any case of anyone shooting at a chef in the course of his duty.
A garda is charged with bringing dangerous criminals to justice on behalf of the state and as such is a protected species so to speak.

Bannasidhe

tayto lover wrote: »

Army, firefighters and prison officers are in the same boat as the garda as they also work on behalf of the state. I don't recall any case of anyone shooting at a chef in the course of his duty.
A garda is charged with bringing dangerous criminals to justice on behalf of the state and as such is a protected species so to speak.

But Tayto - this attitude of the gardaí are a 'protected species' feeds the divide electorate so the PS vs Private sectors are attacking each other tactic we both hate.

Yes - Guards do a difficult, vital job and we all rest easier in our beds knowing they are there. But they chose to do that job knowing what it entails.

I don't have an issue with what this or any guard gets paid - I have said this time and time again. I do have an issue when someone who earns twice the average wage is crying the poor mouth regardless of the source of their income.

tayto lover

Bannasidhe wrote: »

But Tayto - this attitude of the gardaí are a 'protected species' feeds the divide electorate so the PS vs Private sectors are attacking each other tactic we both hate.

Yes - Guards do a difficult, vital job and we all rest easier in our beds knowing they are there. But they chose to do that job knowing what it entails.

I don't have an issue with what this or any guard gets paid - I have said this time and time again. I do have an issue when someone who earns twice the average wage is crying the poor mouth regardless of the source of their income.

We used to have the Death Penalty for anyone who murdered a garda in the course of his job. We had that for a reason. They are doing a dangerous job on behalf of you, me and the population of the state.
While I am glad that the Death Penalty has been done away with it has been replaced by life in prison.

With regard to the whinging over this post I have already stated that I don't believe the letter was genuine and that nobody was crying at all. It's "makey-uppy" to cause debate and division.

Manny Pacquiao

Madam_X wrote: »

Not that hard to convince, no. You have posted during normal working hours also. Barrel-scraping tbh. That's what really anti public sector peeps do though.

I have posted during the day. I'm not a machine, I have breakdowns. Or I check my emails on my iPhone and see if eircom contacted me back about Internet issues I've been having at home and then go into the library at lunch break.

Still, though, when you accumulate over 3000 posts in 4 months and have an average of 23 posts a day, you've got some serious unemployment and reclusive issues.

Also,

Not that hard to convince, no.

Not much of a tenable argument there. Basically you're just saying: "I can prove I have a life by saying: 'NO U!'."

I'm not convinced but most people wouldn't even clock up 23 posts a day on Facebook, though, I doubt you even use Facebook because it's a social networking site for people who actually have real-life friends rather than spending your days on forums like this one.

kevthegaff

tayto lover wrote: »

Army, firefighters and prison officers are in the same boat as the garda as they also work on behalf of the state. I don't recall any case of anyone shooting at a chef in the course of his duty.
A garda is charged with bringing dangerous criminals to justice on behalf of the state and as such is a protected species so to speak.

how many farmers are dying every year from accidents, you dont hear them complaining. gardai is probably one of the safest jobs

El Weirdo

Manny Pacquiao Banned.

Chucky the tree

miss no stars wrote: »

Actually the €200 a week (or 10400pa) refers to "Food/Housekeeping", which, by the time you've paid for deodorants, clothing detergent, toilet paper, bin liners, washing up liquid, tin foil, napkins, kitchen towels, bleach, soap, shampoo, conditioner, cling film, cat/dog food (can't hand the family pet back just cos overtime got cut), rubber gloves, new mop head, tampons/pads, toothpaste and toothbrushes, shaving foam, razor blades, generic brand flash, washing up sponges, jcloths and all the other random stuff that goes in with the weekly shop on an occasional basis, as well as breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks for 4 people, then yes, you are up to €200 a week. Actually, my mum asked a girl at the checkout how much people seemed to spend per week and she said that people with families tended to spend about €180+ per week and then you'd see them in for bits and pieces once or twice more per week (more bread, milk, ran out of nappies whatever) so the estimate of €200 to keep a family in food and household supplies isn't off the mark. Like it or not, the stuff listed above has to be bought when it runs out.

Actually no, that still wouldn't be accurate and cost €10k a year. I never claimed other people aren't as bad as budgeting this family, plenty of other people are and that's why they spend €200 a week on shopping.

tayto lover

kevthegaff wrote: »

how many farmers are dying every year from accidents, you dont hear them complaining. gardai is probably one of the safest jobs

How many of them were injured serving the state. Please read all the post.The
Garda is not the safest job as you well know.

miss no stars

Chucky the tree wrote: »

Actually no, that still wouldn't be accurate and cost €10k a year. I never claimed other people aren't as bad as budgeting this family, plenty of other people are and that's why they spend €200 a week on shopping.

It is though. And as I said, it's not just €200 a week on shopping, it's averaging at €200 a week on food AND household expenses. If you're thrifty, a dinner comes in at €2.50-€3.00. Times 4 is a tenner a day on dinner (with meat, which you should provide for growing children). Times 7 is about €80 on dinner. They're very, very basic dinners, so call it €90 if you don't want to have the same food over and over and over. Kids then need packed lunches for school, 2 sandwiches each (without which I would have been hungry, even as a child so don't go saying 1 sandwich each is enough), fruit, some other sort of snacky thing. Call it €15ish a week. Now we're over €100. Then we need lunch for the parents, call it another €15 for the week, we're up to €120 on lunch and dinner already. Cereal for the week - €8-10 euro. Want toast with your cereal? That's about 3 sliced pans for the family plus butter (not yet factored into lunches) so looking at say, €5 there. Oh look, the washing powder ran out, but there's a special on and a 90 wash box is €15. That's €140. Then toothpaste (€3), cat & dog food (€10) tin foil for wrapping the kids' lunches (€2), bin liners (€2) and a couple of other incidentals and so without buying anything to even snack on outside of the 3 meals per day you're looking at the guts of €160 euro. Oh sorry, forgot the milk, 7x2l bottles is around €10, now we're on €170 and suddenly that figure of €180 isn't looking too unreasonable is it? Couple of pieces of fruit and a pack of biscuits and you're there. And that's not including the press-filler things that need to be replaced now and then (stock cubes, oil, chilli powder, ketchup, mayonnaise, soy sauce, etc etc)

If you're managing to feed and buy household supplies for a family of 4 with 2 kids in school and keep everyone well nourished on a balanced diet I'd love to see an explicit breakdown of how you manage it.

miss no stars

miss no stars wrote: »

It is though. And as I said, it's not just €200 a week on shopping, it's averaging at €200 a week on food AND household expenses. If you're thrifty, a dinner comes in at €2.50-€3.00. Times 4 is a tenner a day on dinner (with meat, which you should provide for growing children). Times 7 is about €80 on dinner. They're very, very basic dinners, so call it €90 if you don't want to have the same food over and over and over. Kids then need packed lunches for school, 2 sandwiches each (without which I would have been hungry, even as a child so don't go saying 1 sandwich each is enough), fruit, some other sort of snacky thing. Call it €15ish a week. Now we're over €100. Then we need lunch for the parents, call it another €15 for the week, we're up to €120 on lunch and dinner already. Cereal for the week - €8-10 euro. Want toast with your cereal? That's about 3 sliced pans for the family plus butter (not yet factored into lunches) so looking at say, €5 there. Oh look, the washing powder ran out, but there's a special on and a 90 wash box is €15. That's €140. Then toothpaste (€3), cat & dog food (€10) tin foil for wrapping the kids' lunches (€2), bin liners (€2) and a couple of other incidentals and so without buying anything to even snack on outside of the 3 meals per day you're looking at the guts of €160 euro. Oh sorry, forgot the milk, 7x2l bottles is around €10, now we're on €170 and suddenly that figure of €180 isn't looking too unreasonable is it? Couple of pieces of fruit and a pack of biscuits and you're there. And that's not including the press-filler things that need to be replaced now and then (stock cubes, oil, chilli powder, ketchup, mayonnaise, soy sauce, etc etc)

If you're managing to feed and buy household supplies for a family of 4 with 2 kids in school and keep everyone well nourished on a balanced diet I'd love to see an explicit breakdown of how you manage it.

2 sandwiches as in 4 pieces of bread? For a child? 3 sliced pans for a week? Really? I also don't see how a family could spend 8-10 euro a week on cereal. Seems excessive to me.

Potential-Monke

Again, and it will be the 2nd and last time i'm saying this, i'm not taking away from the accidents of other jobs. I'm just saying that injury is a daily expectation for Gardai, Firefighters, Nurses, Doctors, Paramedics and most frontline, state paid workers.

I never said Gardai are the only people to get injured during the course of their day, i said there are some professions. But the majority of professions don't have to expect injuries to the extent that frontline services do. I know chefs can get badly burned (my brother is a chef, i've seen the injuries), but they don't have to worry about the next order stabbing him with a syringe.

Yes, there are other professions where death is a potential outcome, but to say that Gardai are in a safe job is crazy. Yes, they signed up for this, but that doesn't mean it's a safe job.

And Japer, i know you're banned, but for the eventual second (third, fourth?) account or ability to reply again, if you're reading this, the Gardai (and other frontline services) get these "perks" because of the nature of the job. They face danger everyday, are expected to jump into fights to stop them, are expected to stop armed (not necessarily with guns) people from robbing someone/where. If these "perks" didn't exist, there would be very few frontline employees. You need something to entice people to do a difficult (and obviously hated) job.

How many other jobs get the hatred that Gardai get? How many people who are not Gardai can say they are hated by a large population of the country just for the job they do? How many people who do their job get attacked because of their profession?

There are just over 13000 Gardai in Ireland, and less than 11000 of Garda rank. It's a very small voice to be heard over the crowd.

Chucky the tree

miss no stars wrote: »

It is though. And as I said, it's not just €200 a week on shopping, it's averaging at €200 a week on food AND household expenses. If you're thrifty, a dinner comes in at €2.50-€3.00. Times 4 is a tenner a day on dinner (with meat, which you should provide for growing children). Times 7 is about €80 on dinner. They're very, very basic dinners, so call it €90 if you don't want to have the same food over and over and over. Kids then need packed lunches for school, 2 sandwiches each (without which I would have been hungry, even as a child so don't go saying 1 sandwich each is enough), fruit, some other sort of snacky thing. Call it €15ish a week. Now we're over €100. Then we need lunch for the parents, call it another €15 for the week, we're up to €120 on lunch and dinner already. Cereal for the week - €8-10 euro. Want toast with your cereal? That's about 3 sliced pans for the family plus butter (not yet factored into lunches) so looking at say, €5 there. Oh look, the washing powder ran out, but there's a special on and a 90 wash box is €15. That's €140. Then toothpaste (€3), cat & dog food (€10) tin foil for wrapping the kids' lunches (€2), bin liners (€2) and a couple of other incidentals and so without buying anything to even snack on outside of the 3 meals per day you're looking at the guts of €160 euro. Oh sorry, forgot the milk, 7x2l bottles is around €10, now we're on €170 and suddenly that figure of €180 isn't looking too unreasonable is it? Couple of pieces of fruit and a pack of biscuits and you're there. And that's not including the press-filler things that need to be replaced now and then (stock cubes, oil, chilli powder, ketchup, mayonnaise, soy sauce, etc etc)

If you're managing to feed and buy household supplies for a family of 4 with 2 kids in school and keep everyone well nourished on a balanced diet I'd love to see an explicit breakdown of how you manage it.

You budgeting skills are about as terrible as the ones in the article. €80 a week on dinners? You having Lobster every night? Aldi and Lidl do deals every week. This week you can get 1kg of baby potates for €0.39, 1kg of carrots for €0.39, 1kg of lean mince for €5, 2kg Super road fresh chicken for €6. That should get 3 nights of dinner for about €12, push it tp €15 by buying mushrooms, pepper, pasta sauce if you want. Dinner for 7 nights a week should easily be done with €50. Don't bother with €8-10 on cereal. Flavahans 1kg porridge for €2.35 will last the family a week. Don't have time to go through every you listed, but suffice to say saving can be made everywhere.

leeroybrown

miss no stars wrote: »

It is though. And as I said, it's not just €200 a week on shopping, it's averaging at €200 a week on food AND household expenses. If you're thrifty, a dinner comes in at €2.50-€3.00. Times 4 is a tenner a day on dinner (with meat, which you should provide for growing children). Times 7 is about €80 on dinner. They're very, very basic dinners, so call it €90 if you don't want to have the same food over and over and over. Kids then need packed lunches for school, 2 sandwiches each (without which I would have been hungry, even as a child so don't go saying 1 sandwich each is enough), fruit, some other sort of snacky thing. Call it €15ish a week. Now we're over €100. Then we need lunch for the parents, call it another €15 for the week, we're up to €120 on lunch and dinner already. Cereal for the week - €8-10 euro. Want toast with your cereal? That's about 3 sliced pans for the family plus butter (not yet factored into lunches) so looking at say, €5 there. Oh look, the washing powder ran out, but there's a special on and a 90 wash box is €15. That's €140. Then toothpaste (€3), cat & dog food (€10) tin foil for wrapping the kids' lunches (€2), bin liners (€2) and a couple of other incidentals and so without buying anything to even snack on outside of the 3 meals per day you're looking at the guts of €160 euro. Oh sorry, forgot the milk, 7x2l bottles is around €10, now we're on €170 and suddenly that figure of €180 isn't looking too unreasonable is it? Couple of pieces of fruit and a pack of biscuits and you're there. And that's not including the press-filler things that need to be replaced now and then (stock cubes, oil, chilli powder, ketchup, mayonnaise, soy sauce, etc etc)

You make it sound like a budget but in fact it's a set of rounded up costs added together to get you close to €200. Someone who realises that they're on a shoestring budget and decides to live within it can cut a lot of cost out of that list and lots of little savings really add up over time. Living on a budget takes some planning, some effort and a few sacrifices but it's far more possible than many people think.

Pappa Charlie

kevthegaff wrote: »

how many farmers are dying every year from accidents, you dont hear them complaining. gardai is probably one of the safest jobs

Gardai are well trained, many farmers by their very nature take chances and have little training with machinery where most lives are lost, when they do lose their lives who gets called to the scene? emergency services like the Gardai not many private sector workers.

pickarooney

miss no stars wrote: »

It is though. And as I said, it's not just €200 a week on shopping, it's averaging at €200 a week on food AND household expenses. If you're thrifty, a dinner comes in at €2.50-€3.00. Times 4 is a tenner a day on dinner (with meat, which you should provide for growing children). Times 7 is about €80 on dinner. They're very, very basic dinners, so call it €90 if you don't want to have the same food over and over and over. Kids then need packed lunches for school, 2 sandwiches each (without which I would have been hungry, even as a child so don't go saying 1 sandwich each is enough), fruit, some other sort of snacky thing. Call it €15ish a week. Now we're over €100. Then we need lunch for the parents, call it another €15 for the week, we're up to €120 on lunch and dinner already. Cereal for the week - €8-10 euro. Want toast with your cereal? That's about 3 sliced pans for the family plus butter (not yet factored into lunches) so looking at say, €5 there. Oh look, the washing powder ran out, but there's a special on and a 90 wash box is €15. That's €140. Then toothpaste (€3), cat & dog food (€10) tin foil for wrapping the kids' lunches (€2), bin liners (€2) and a couple of other incidentals and so without buying anything to even snack on outside of the 3 meals per day you're looking at the guts of €160 euro. Oh sorry, forgot the milk, 7x2l bottles is around €10, now we're on €170 and suddenly that figure of €180 isn't looking too unreasonable is it? Couple of pieces of fruit and a pack of biscuits and you're there. And that's not including the press-filler things that need to be replaced now and then (stock cubes, oil, chilli powder, ketchup, mayonnaise, soy sauce, etc etc)

If you're managing to feed and buy household supplies for a family of 4 with 2 kids in school and keep everyone well nourished on a balanced diet I'd love to see an explicit breakdown of how you manage it.

You don't just multiply the cost of dinner for one person by the number of people eating. Food scales up pretty well.

snubbleste

Anyone seen an update on this story?
Are there still "we only eat cornflakes all day" days?

Boombastic

snubbleste wrote: »

Anyone seen an update on this story?
Are there still "we only eat cornflakes all day" days?

No, perhaps they have starved to death?

LivelineDipso

If you eat cornflake everyday you will die in about a month.

Death and Taxes

LivelineDipso wrote: »

If you eat cornflake everyday you will die in about a month.

They're ok now, they switched to weetabix

Wanderer2010

Wasnt there another story about a woman who "woke to find only 2 slices of bread in the whole house" and she couldnt feed her 3 kids so 2 of them had to go hungry? Now I dont want to say thats a lie because who knows, it could very well be true but there has been an increase in people ringing up radio shows to complain about having zero food etc, im sure a lot of them are just out to scam the decent people who almost always ring up to offer food, clothing etc!

Bread is so cheap nowadays and you have the charities with food parcels etc its hard to believe a lot of these tales..

rsole1

Wanderer2010 wrote: »

Wasnt there another story about a woman who "woke to find only 2 slices of bread in the whole house" and she couldnt feed her 3 kids so 2 of them had to go hungry? Now I dont want to say thats a lie because who knows, it could very well be true but there has been an increase in people ringing up radio shows to complain about having zero food etc, im sure a lot of them are just out to scam the decent people who almost always ring up to offer food, clothing etc!

Bread is so cheap nowadays and you have the charities with food parcels etc its hard to believe a lot of these tales..

We have just had a soup kitchen open up in Roscommon, and a lot of their "customers" who avail of free food can be seen outside certain pubs taking a smoke break between pints.

gallag

Anyone in the UK or Ireland that truly believe they are in poverty should try a spell in a truly poor country.

If you have sky tv you are not in poverty.
If you have a tv you are not in poverty.
If you earn €60,000 you are not in poverty.
Have a mobile phone? Not in poverty.
Turn a tap and water comes out? No poverty their.
Walk six miles to get a bucket of dirty water that might cause blindness? You might be in poverty
One of the 2,500 mothers that are going to watch your child die in your arms today due to drought? Deffo poverty.

Death and Taxes

gallag wrote: »

Anyone in the UK or Ireland that truly believe they are in poverty should try a spell in a truly poor country.

If you have sky tv you are not in poverty.
If you have a tv you are not in poverty.
If you earn €60,000 you are not in poverty.
Have a mobile phone? Not in poverty.
Turn a tap and water comes out? No poverty their.
Walk six miles to get a bucket of dirty water that might cause blindness? You might be in poverty
One of the 2,500 mothers that are going to watch your child die in your arms today due to drought? Deffo poverty.

Me Hole,!
All things are relative if you cant afford a tv in Ireland then yes laddie, you are in fúcking poverty.

Reloc8

Wanderer2010 wrote: »

Wasnt there another story about a woman who "woke to find only 2 slices of bread in the whole house" and she couldnt feed her 3 kids so 2 of them had to go hungry? Now I dont want to say thats a lie because who knows, it could very well be true but there has been an increase in people ringing up radio shows to complain about having zero food etc, im sure a lot of them are just out to scam the decent people who almost always ring up to offer food, clothing etc!

Bread is so cheap nowadays and you have the charities with food parcels etc its hard to believe a lot of these tales..

To me that particular story is only believable if :-

1. There are serious addiction problems in the house, drink or drugs, or

2. There are significant mental health issues in the house, or

3. The parents have, unbelievably, prioritised servicing bank or credit union debt over the bare essentials necessary for life, which amounts to a mental block if not disorder, and

4. One or more of the foregoing applies and the parents have also been unable to access help and services available from a wide variety of sources.

All of the foregoing is based on what that woman said, which includes that there is income coming into the house on her own account.

If points 1 and/or 2 are in fact present then that is certainly very sad and requires to be addressed sooner rather than later for the welfare of the children and their parents. But the situation has not been caused by the tough times in which we live.

If 1 or 2 are not in fact present and this story represents the full truth of the circumstances in the house then I seriously question the fitness of those parents to look after their children.

On balance I am inclined to believe there has either been exaggeration on her part, or something else very important to the story has not been said.

Conmaicne Mara

gallag wrote: »

Anyone in the UK or Ireland that truly believe they are in poverty should try a spell in a truly poor country.

Tell you what, you go on ahead there and the rest of us will follow in a week or so when we find out what happens in Love/Hate.

snubbleste

So how do I find out what happened? Especially post-budget with the €10 per child decrease in child benefit, the rise in student registration charges, motor tax rises....
Surely the Irish Times realise the public interest in this story and do an update, if anything this family with €60k income are now on the verge of homelessness?

LivelineDipso

Reloc8 wrote: »

To me that particular story is only believable if :-



On balance I am inclined to believe there has either been exaggeration on her part, or something else very important to the story has not been said.

Could it be the cop is about to be done for eh, a bit of extra income?

Reloc8

LivelineDipso wrote: »

Could it be the cop is about to be done for eh, a bit of extra income?

Well, I was talking about somebody else's account of the dire straits they're in I have no idea what anyone's circumstances are except what they claim them to be themselves.

snubbleste

This Garda sergeant lives within walking distance of his workplace and walks to work or as he says
"I often walk to work because I can't afford to put petrol in the car,"
but wait he's got kids going to private schools costing €24k per annum
"Two of my children are in private schools and one is at third level. I have to be earning €24,000 for schooling and another €30,000 for the mortgage. If these cuts happen, I'll definitely sink." http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/frontline-workers-fear-10pc-cuts-will-sink-them-29066724.html

What's he not saying?

kylith

snubbleste wrote: »

This Garda sergeant lives within walking distance of his workplace and walks to work or as he says
"I often walk to work because I can't afford to put petrol in the car,"
but wait he's got kids going to private schools costing €24k per annum
"Two of my children are in private schools and one is at third level. I have to be earning €24,000 for schooling and another €30,000 for the mortgage. If these cuts happen, I'll definitely sink." http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/frontline-workers-fear-10pc-cuts-will-sink-them-29066724.html

What's he not saying?

That he should put his children in state education if having them in private is sending him to the poorhouse.

Stheno

snubbleste wrote: »

This Garda sergeant lives within walking distance of his workplace and walks to work or as he says
"I often walk to work because I can't afford to put petrol in the car,"
but wait he's got kids going to private schools costing €24k per annum
"Two of my children are in private schools and one is at third level. I have to be earning €24,000 for schooling and another €30,000 for the mortgage. If these cuts happen, I'll definitely sink." http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/frontline-workers-fear-10pc-cuts-will-sink-them-29066724.html

What's he not saying?

I suspect he is using gross earnings and not net there, so after tax he needs 15k for the mortgage (1250 per month) and 12k per year (1k per month) for private schools and college fees/costs.

tayto lover

snubbleste wrote: »

This Garda sergeant lives within walking distance of his workplace and walks to work or as he says
"I often walk to work because I can't afford to put petrol in the car,"
but wait he's got kids going to private schools costing €24k per annum
"Two of my children are in private schools and one is at third level. I have to be earning €24,000 for schooling and another €30,000 for the mortgage. If these cuts happen, I'll definitely sink." http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/frontline-workers-fear-10pc-cuts-will-sink-them-29066724.html

What's he not saying?

That whole story smells of media bullsh1t to be honest.
I cannot see any Garda coming out and stating that as fact or their Union/Rep body also stating it. It seems like media/Govt propaganda to me. Up to their old divide and conquer tricks again i'd say.

snubbleste

tayto lover wrote: »

That whole story smells of media bullsh1t to be honest. I cannot see any Garda coming out and stating that as fact or their Union/Rep body also stating it. It seems like media/Govt propaganda to me. Up to their old divide and conquer tricks again i'd say.

The article quotes the sergeant by name

Boombastic

He should ask for financial advice off Padraig Flynn, I understand he had similar problems

Bloody*Mary

Boombastic wrote: »

He should ask for financial advice off Padraig Flynn, I understand he had similar problems

Lot of people overextended themselves during the boom.

I don't have to name names.

When ordinary citizens get involved in multi-million projects, it can only end badly.

How the fcuk can a nation of around five million run up so much bad deals?

Like a punter heading for the racecourse and slapping the total mortgage on #6!

Would the bookie not look for collateral?

And then expecting to be bailed out if the nag loses!

Look! People got greedy, punters got sucked in, easy money,based their outgoings on overtime and expenses.

you can't expect others to bail you out if you bet on the future.

Things change, Schmidt happens, don't expect the taxpayer to bail out a bad punt.