Free Holidays abroad for poor families?

Lyaiera

Thoie wrote: »

I suspect most people on Disability Allowance would prefer the money to be spent on things like treatment centres closer to home, carers, assisted living grants, counselling services, decent mobility aids, or a public transport system that doesn't require them to get expensive taxis around the place.

So they should have to choose between proper medical treatment and living a normal life?

JC01

A foreign holiday does not have to be that expensive at all so if you can't afford one maybe you should have taken a harder look at your finances before deciding to have children who are extremely expensive. The actual idea that taxpayers should foot the bill for holidays for others is ridiculous.

Now I'm not stupid enough to think honest hardworking people don't fall on hard times after having children, and my heart genuinely goes out to them. The above statement is about the far more common lazy ***** who pop out kids and then feel like they are owed the world to "raise" them

Thoie

Lyaiera wrote: »

So they should have to choose between proper medical treatment and living a normal life?

In an ideal world no-one should have to make that choice. However as there is not an endless pot of money, it is a choice that has to be made. If I have to make an unexpected visit to a doctor, that's money I can't spend on something else.

Andy From Sligo

yep fair enough , a family where the parents are employed or self-employed but still want to but cannot afford to go away abroad on holiday, why not include them into the scheme of things and give them a "Holiday allowance" too, yep Id be fine with that. Most probably again have to be means tested and all savings accounts and any other incomes taken into account first obviously.

If people dont sit well with irish tax-payers having to fork out for this so called privilege for poor families then maybe some kind of deal could be set up whereby part funding or full funding comes from europe , after all if people were sent there they would be using spending money in these resorts and the facilities.

not wishing to look too far out of the box there could also be like a designated holiday camp in one of these resorts especially fit for the purpose. A bit like the old butlin holiday camps.

yep, i know Im crazy and have crazy ideas already, without being constantly told it lol

Barry Badrinath

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

yep fair enough , a family where the parents are employed or self-employed but still want to but cannot afford to go away abroad on holiday, why not include them into the scheme of things and give them a "Holiday allowance" too, yep Id be fine with that. Most probably again have to be means tested and all savings accounts and any other incomes taken into account first obviously.

If people dont sit well with irish tax-payers having to fork out for this so called privilege for poor families then maybe some kind of deal could be set up whereby part funding or full funding comes from europe , after all if people were sent there they would be using spending money in these resorts and the facilities.

not wishing to look too far out of the box there could also be like a designated holiday camp in one of these resorts especially fit for the purpose. A bit like the old butlin holiday camps.

yep, i know Im crazy and have crazy ideas already, without being constantly told it lol

Andy, with all the respect in the World.....are ya daft? And I'm not just talking about this thread either.

I can never tell whether you are genuinely tapped or just taking the piss most of the time.

This time, you are suggesting "poor" people, on the scratcher, be given foreign holiday money from the irish government and maybe from Europe. Failing that, ship them off to a Butlins themed, poor person get away camp.

Andy for President!

You are nuttier than a Snickers duo.

El_Duderino 09

You're essentially talking about a voucher system for holidays for poor people. Vouchers might be a good idea but I'm not sure holidays are the highest priority.

Some people are too stupid to plan their spending, some people are diagnosable. Some parents are better than others. The fact is that children of better parents, are likely to have a better set of experience. The state giving holidays to poor people is nice, but it's not necessary.

McGrath5

screamer wrote: »

Funny the ones I see who afford to go on holidays are the all their life welfareites. People who work dont gave the disposable income paying mortgages childcare health insurances life insurances etc they are the ones who can't afford the luxury of a holiday as they have so many responsible peoples bills to pay which others with means from the government don't have to pay and never will. Being a lifetime waster is already too handsomely rewarded in this country without incentivising it further and sending bands of howreyas to spend a week drinking in the sunshine.

I agree, it can be often to handsomely rewarded.

I know of a single parent (on the dole) who brought her 3 kids to Euro Disney in Paris this year, and next year they are of to Florida, that is wrong IMO.

wakka12

I don't think we all need sun holidays..its a luxury.
What would be nice would be if there were some holiday towns or resorts in Ireland that were actually enjoyable to visit. Nice cosy squares like in europe, lots of cafes and restaurants with outdoor seating, lots of green areas, and good sport and entertainment amenities, amusement parks, heated outdoor pools ,pretty old looking buildings all in one small town sized area. Theres really nowhere like that in Ireland. Is there any 'tourist' towns in Ireland that say for instance people from Dublin would go on a holiday too?
Not that I can think of really. In spain,Italy, England and France theres lots of little towns that people from the major cities will visit and enjoy themselves in without travelling abroad. If we had more decent tourist towns to visit then Irish people would feel it less necessary to go abroad on holidays.

And Im not saying we don't have any nice towns in Ireland, (though theres certainly a lack of them) but even the nice towns here such as kenmare,westport,Killarney,Howth etc are quaint and all but theres very little to do in them for tourists in my opinion.

wakka12

Also to be fair, ryanair flights to large parts of Europe are extremely cheap. I know people can have money problems but if you really want to go on holidays it wouldnt be that hard to save up for those flights to a sunny part of France or Southern Europe. Maybe nice idea but holidays abroad for all poor people in Ireland would be an astronomical expense for the state and with very little to show int terms of returns on that money spent. Theres so many better things the money could be spent on in terms of transport, health care , water provision, emergency services and education.

Andy From Sligo

the USP of a holiday abroad is Sun and relaxation! - you could (almost) be sure that if you went on holiday abroad in the summertime you are going to be guaranteed pretty good weather - well better than Ireland anyway.

wakka12

Also I hate how Irish people feel we need to suffer having less amenities just due to our weather. I guarantee you we are the only wealthy country in the world with a wet climate that feels it cant build any theme parks, water parks, outdoor pools and other such entertainment facilities solly due to our wet/cool climate. Ive heard people say Dublin shouldn't have public baths/outdoor thermal pools because of the rain.
Em have you been to Budapest? The outdoor pools there in winter when its freezing out are unreal, in fact the cold dull weather is what makes them even more exciting.

whatismyname

bubblypop wrote: »

St Vincent de Paul do actually supply holidays in this country for deserving families.
They don't need to go overseas

Just what I was thinking bubblypop.

HiJacques

I like the idea of sending the less well off to places like Libya or Somalia on holidays for a week. It might put things in perspective at least. Maybe every year the holiday gets longer until at a certain point there's no return flight.

Hollister11

Why should the taxpayer fund a holiday for people on the dole ? If you wan't a holiday, get off your arse and find a job to pay for it.

There is nobody who is entitled to a holiday, let alone a free one. The nerve!

Stasi 2.0

HiJacques wrote: »

I like the idea of sending the less well off to places like Libya or Somalia .....no return flight.

Efficency and Progress are ours once more.........

HiJacques

Stasi 2.0 wrote: »

Efficency and Progress are ours once more.........

Ours?

Herr Staatssicherheits hund Prora is nochmals geoffnet seit vielen Jahren.

donegaLroad

would the North count as 'abroad'..

You could send a bus load to Newry for a few nights.

222233

No I wouldn't support this in fact if they brought this in I would deliberately quit my job as the thought of my taxes paying for someone else to holiday while I slave until my annual leave makes me sick.

Stasi 2.0

222233 wrote: »

No I wouldn't support this in fact if they brought this in I would deliberately quit my job as the thought of my taxes paying for .......

Would you burn down your house as well ?

littelady

Andy From Sligo wrote:

not wishing to look too far out of the box there could also be like a designated holiday camp in one of these resorts especially fit for the purpose. A bit like the old butlin holiday camps.

Andy From Sligo wrote:

yep fair enough , a family where the parents are employed or self-employed but still want to but cannot afford to go away abroad on holiday, why not include them into the scheme of things and give them a "Holiday allowance" too, yep Id be fine with that. Most probably again have to be means tested and all savings accounts and any other incomes taken into account first obviously.

Andy From Sligo wrote:

yep fair enough , a family where the parents are employed or self-employed but still want to but cannot afford to go away abroad on holiday, why not include them into the scheme of things and give them a "Holiday allowance" too, yep Id be fine with that. Most probably again have to be means tested and all savings accounts and any other incomes taken into account first obviously.

Andy From Sligo wrote:

yep fair enough , a family where the parents are employed or self-employed but still want to but cannot afford to go away abroad on holiday, why not include them into the scheme of things and give them a "Holiday allowance" too, yep Id be fine with that. Most probably again have to be means tested and all savings accounts and any other incomes taken into account first obviously.

....but most workers and self -employed have to much dignity to be beconing on tax payers.

222233

Stasi 2.0 wrote: »

Would you burn down your house as well ?

No I'd live like a queen, apply for a bit of old rent allowance have my yearly holiday you know yourself.

littelady

As a matter of interest why are you on the dole and how long ?

Kiwi in IE

I generally would not support this at all! However I would support something along these lines for families where finances are seriously and permanently constrained due to long term or terminal illness/life limiting disability.

Not having a job when you are able to work is not, and should not be viewed as a permanent state of affairs. I fully support social assistance to completely cover the necessities of life during times of unemployment, but I certainly don't include foreign, or even local holidays in that. In saying that, I do not mean that I think unemployed people should not ever go on holiday, but certainly not with special funds provided by the state specifically for that purpose, in addition to regular social assistance.

Subsidising higher education for the long term unemployed would be far more beneficial than giving them a state sponsored holiday to Spain.

222233

littelady wrote: »

As a matter of interest why are you on the dole and how long ?

The question should be why is anyone on the dole for more than 6 months (except for disability, illness, extreme circumstances etc) .. ?

I just had a look on indeed "9,757 new jobs in the last 7 days"

Stasi 2.0

Unless youre willing to quit your job, burn down your house and crash your car into the gates of leinster house im calling bull$hit on your faux outrage.

222233

Kiwi in IE wrote: »

I generally would not support this at all! However I would support something along these lines for families where finances are seriously and permanently constrained due to long term or terminal illness/life limiting disability.

Not having a job when you are able to work is not, and should not be viewed as a permanent state of affairs.

I really agree with you and I especially think the self employed and people who have worked hard in the past should be prioritised when they fall on hard times and given extra as opposed to those who signed on at 18 and have remained signed on for 10 years..

Lyaiera

222233 wrote: »

No I'd live like a queen, apply for a bit of old rent allowance have my yearly holiday you know yourself.

Unless you move to the middle of nowhere, where you'll never get a job (but of course you're quitting to live the sweet life, so I guess that's not an issue) you won't get rent allowance because all the rents will be too high.

HiJacques

donegaLroad wrote: »

would the North count as 'abroad'..

You could send a bus load to Newry for a few nights.

They may need the money badly now they're outside the EU but I don't think sending unemployed people from the South up North is a wise move.

They could have free holidays for middle income families instead though.

Ireland is a net contributor to the EU now so maybe some of that contribution could be offset to pay model families to go on holiday in NI, improve cross-border relations and sow seeds for a future border poll.

Kiwi in IE

222233 wrote: »

I really agree with you and I especially think the self employed and people who have worked hard in the past should be prioritised when they fall on hard times and given extra as opposed to those who signed on at 18 and have remained signed on for 10 years..

I see no reason at all why self employed are not entitled to social assistance if they fall on hard times. That is a bizarre policy.

222233

Kiwi in IE wrote: »

I see no reason at all why self employed are not entitled to social assistance if they fall on hard times. That is a bizarre policy.

It's made incredibly difficult for people who are genuinely out of work to do jobs here and there also e.g when a contracting job for 3 days pops up and they have to go through the whole process of signing off and on etc.