"Dole" Question...

LegacyUser

Hi,

I will most probably find myself out of a job in the new year.

Now, this is not nearly as serious as it may seem as I have virtually no outgoings (€200 per month) and will be back in college next year full time.

My questions are...

1. Whats the difference between "unemployment benifit" and "the dole", if any?

2. If I am claiming one of the above for any lenght of time is it still necessary to queue up at the dole office or is it direct debited into my account?
The reason I ask is because I may be out of the country (Germany) learning the language for college next year. I don't plan on working as it will be necessary I will be travelling.

Before you start screaming at me for "abusing" the social welfare system you must understand that I have been working/studying full time for years and will be paying more tax than most of the country for the next 30 years. Besides it's not like I'll be sitting on my rear end.

Please post,

Future Social Leech.

Atreides

afaik you allways have to claim beneifits and dole in person

ColinM

"The dole" is slang for social welfare unemployment payments.
There are two types: unemployment benefit and unemployment assistance. You are entitled to unemployment benefit if you have lost your job and have contributed social insurance payments (PRSI) for a certain continuous period of time (about a year). If not, you may be entitled to unemployment assistance, which you will be means-tested for to determine how much you qualify for, if at all.

You can choose to have weekly payments made to your bank account, but you must present yourself to sign on every 28 days. You are not supposed to travel without notifying the social welfare office, but there's nothing stopping you. If you fail to show up to sign on though, payments will be stopped. If you can subsequently provide a good explanation for a no-show, they may start payments again. Travelling around Europe wouldn't be one!

LegacyUser

3. oh - and how much is social welfare per week?


Cheers Colin M

Senor_Fudge

124.80 per week
i wouldnt advise trying to get away with it long term, would ya be coming back every month?
cause if u try and scam them they will come down on ya like a tonne of bricks

LegacyUser

How long does it take on average from application to first payment? (Dublin)

LegacyUser

It would be short(ish) term - 'bout 4 months, no more.

Yeah, I suppose I could come back monthly - well I'd have to.

I'll be using the money to pay for college - so I feel vilified (sp?) already.


tribble

Sangre

LoL tribble you're an idiot!!

Try not to sign your anonymous posts with your name

Beruthiel

this is not a personal issue
I'm not quite sure where it should go though, so I'm moving it to the Work Forum unless WWM or pebble can think of a better place?
B

tribble

LoL tribble you're an idiot!!

Yep - thats me:D - but now that I'm exposed for the scum I am I shalln't even try to disguise it.:p

The_Bullman

if you are on the dole for more than 6 months and you return to college you are allowed to claim the back to education allowance.

this basically is keeping the dole when you are in college.

the social welfare offcie will request proff that you are enrolled in college and that's about it. No sign ins or anything.

You may also be elegable for the grant also, but remember that it will be means tested on last years pay. Not necessarily the time that you are on the dole

KdjaCL

Originally posted by Mr Garvey

cause if u try and scam them they will come down on ya like a tonne of bricks

I wouldnt say €5 a week for the amount you owe is a tonne of bricks.

Thats what they inflict upon you,tis evil i tells yah.



LOL @ Tribble also
kdjac

kermit_ie

if you are studying fulltime (in Germany or Ireland) you are not entitled to claim benefit.

If you are going just to absorb the language, sign on over there, you have the same entitlements as a German citizen.

jArgHA

Originally posted by The_Bullman
if you are on the dole for more than 6 months and you return to college you are allowed to claim the back to education allowance.

this basically is keeping the dole when you are in college.

the social welfare offcie will request proff that you are enrolled in college and that's about it. No sign ins or anything.

You may also be elegable for the grant also, but remember that it will be means tested on last years pay. Not necessarily the time that you are on the dole

NB: You must be 24 years or older (for postgraduate course, and 21 years or older for undergraduate course) from the date the course starts to receive Back To Education Scheme assistance. I missed out on this benefit because I'm not 24 until December whereas my current postgrad started in early October!

With regards to grant, it is based on your earnings for the tax year prior to the year you start your course, so in my case my grant was based on my earnings for the year 2002 (Jan-Dec) as I started my course in October 2003. This means that since Jan 2003 I could have been earning €10,000 per week and still qualify for the grant!

jAH

Gav_b

jArgHA, I'm currently looking for work and claiming unemployment assistance. If I don't find suitable employment soon, I am thinking of doing a taught masters next year. Can I do this and still keep claiming?

Gav_b

jArgHA, I'm currently looking for work and claiming unemployment assistance. If I don't find suitable employment soon, I am thinking of doing a taught masters next year. Can I still claim while doing a masters or is it only while doing a primary degree?

Imposter

AFAIK if you are claiming unemployment assistance in a country you can move to another EU country and get it tranferred to there for a period of up to 6 months provided you are actively seeking employment in that country.

What constitutes actively seeking employment in Germany, i don't know, but I would imagine you'd have to go to any interviews the Arbeitsamt (if that's what they're called in Germany) organises for you. At least that's how it works in Austria. After 6 months if you haven't found a job you must either stay with no assistance or return home.

Ask at your social welfare office as they should know the details of this. You will need to go through them in order ot get the payments transferred as well.

jArgHA

Originally posted by Gav_b
jArgHA, I'm currently looking for work and claiming unemployment assistance. If I don't find suitable employment soon, I am thinking of doing a taught masters next year. Can I still claim while doing a masters or is it only while doing a primary degree?

Gav_b, if you're on unemployment assistance for 6 months prior to starting a taught masters next september say, then you should qualify for the BTES (Back To Education Scheme) which is the same weekly amount as the assitance.

However, the BTES is currently a bit of a gray area, with Charlie McCreevy coming close to scrapping it last year, and I believe will be progressively harder to get in the coming year(s). Someone told me, but I'm not sure about the truth in this, that in the coming year(s), one would need to be on the dole for 5 years to qualify for BTES. This sounds crazy so I'm not sure.

The only place you will get solid information on this is in a major social welfare branch, it would be crazy to stay on the dole for another 10 months and then discover that BTES is not awarded to masters students but only HDip students or something like that.

Originally posted by Imposter
if you are claiming unemployment assistance in a country you can move to another EU country and get it tranferred to there for a period of up to 6 months

I think yer misktaken here, as far as I know it is a period of 6 weeks and not 6 months. I have a mate who moved to Portugal and had his dole transferred there, but this only lasted for 6 weeks.

jAH

K12

If you are entitled to Unemployment Benefit you are entitled to "export your Benefit" to Germany. It will be for the same amount as you would get here. Say nothing about college course and just tell them you are moving to find employed and need info on exporting the benefits.... can export to EU countries, US, Australia, NZ also....

embee

Department of Social Welfare for al your tax dodger needs....

eth0_

Originally posted by Social Leech
It would be short(ish) term - 'bout 4 months, no more.

Yeah, I suppose I could come back monthly - well I'd have to.

I'll be using the money to pay for college - so I feel vilified (sp?) already.


tribble

They told me I could be waiting a few months when I signed on at the start of summer and I got my first payment after about 2 weeks. It's a joke how easy it is to stay on the dole in Ireland. I had to go in and sign my name once a month. No one asked me was I actively looking for work, or asked for proof of this. Literally, queue up, sign your name, leave.
In the UK however, you get about £50 a week (less than 70 euro), you have to sign in every 2 weeks and fill out a form showing what jobs you applied for, contact number for these jobs, letters of rejection, what newspapers/websites you're looking at to find a job, and to sign on in the first place you have to show bank statements, if you have more than a few grand in savings you don't get anything in benefits.

combs

Originally posted by eth0_
They told me I could be waiting a few months when I signed on at the start of summer and I got my first payment after about 2 weeks. It's a joke how easy it is to stay on the dole in Ireland. I had to go in and sign my name once a month. No one asked me was I actively looking for work, or asked for proof of this. Literally, queue up, sign your name, leave.
In the UK however, you get about €×0 a week (less than 70 euro), you have to sign in every 2 weeks and fill out a form showing what jobs you applied for, contact number for these jobs, letters of rejection, what newspapers/websites you're looking at to find a job, and to sign on in the first place you have to show bank statements, if you have more than a few grand in savings you don't get anything in benefits.

But maybe it's actually possible to get a job in the UK without the benefit of cronyism/nepotism? So they can afford to be more strict.

tribble

Cheers lads,

I promise I'll pay it back to you (seen as how you are all effectivly paying me for a few months next year).
Though I probably have paid more PRSI over the years than I'll actually claim.
I can now actually relax knowing I can afford my degree.

Social Leach (aka. tribble the scumbag)

eth0_

Originally posted by combs
But maybe it's actually possible to get a job in the UK without the benefit of cronyism/nepotism? So they can afford to be more strict.

Believe me, it's just as hard to get a job in the UK as in Ireland...

sceptre

Originally posted by jArgHA
Gav_b, if you're on unemployment assistance for 6 months prior to starting a taught masters next september say, then you should qualify for the BTES (Back To Education Scheme) which is the same weekly amount as the assitance.

Two things on this:

1. Last March they dropped all post grad courses except a HDip from the scheme

2. By next year they'll have changed the requirement from six months to fifteen. Mary Coughlan is apparently concerned that some people might be signing on for six months just to get on the scheme. (personally I think the woman is an idiot and I'm glad she can't get ISDN at home but that's small respite for those who might benefit from the scheme).