Social Welfare in Ireland for single mum

mrDuke

Hi i have a friend in the uk,
she is having problems at home with a boyfriend and needs getting out.
I offered for her to come to uk
Is she entitled to social welfare in ireland as she is a young single parent?

ztoical

might try the social welfare forum, might get an answer there

the_syco

Doubt it. Think you have to be for about 2 years.

Click here

mrDuke

sorry i couldnt find one, ill try again, if its somewhere tricky can you point me in right direction, also mods can you move/delete my post?

SarahMc

Ireland has a special relationship with the UK, and UK citizens are not subject to the 2 year rule.

mrDuke

and how long would an application take? And what support is there? is there housing and dole available? And if the woman wants to work is there child care available.

patrick2007

Well that was nice of you to invite your friend over to Ireland to use our social welfare.
Why doesnt she move to a different city in the UK instead of coming to Ireland?

mikemac

mrDuke wrote: »

and how long would an application take? And what support is there? is there housing and dole available? And if the woman wants to work is there child care available.

There is housing available but there is a loooooong waiting list.
And your friend will have to wait like everyone else.

Benefits forum has lots of advice, much of it from me Try there

patrick2007, I understand your post but Irish people can do the same in the UK.
I did a training course in Belfast and was given rent allowance and Job Seekers. Hell, I paid it back tenfold though as that was my wage for my work experience
So I imagine the OP's friend will get assistance straight away. And it's far more generous than what they get in the UK by far!

mrDuke

yes this girl is prepared to work, but she wants to be with me and needs some help to get settled as im only a student and she will need to get settled and sort out day time care for her son before she can work and when she works she will pay back her dues hugely unlike many other irish people who are able to work and sit on welfare. With a child and being a single mum this girl could get away with being a bum but she is not like that so some respect would be nice for someone who is having a hard time at the moment.

patrick2007

OP your initial posts gave me the impression that your friend wasnt interested in working.
You might inform your friend that child care costs in Ireland are extremely expensive as I'm sure other board members will agree,so it is possible that unless your friend gets a very well paid job she will not be able to afford any such childcare, unless she has family here that may help her out or even your family may help out.

Morlar

You are asking if your girlfriend from england who is having troubles with her boyfriend can move here and get a free house and free money from the irish taxpayer and then say that we should show this person some respect ? This is while you say 'unlike many other irish people who are able to work and sit on welfare'

Bit of a double-standard there if you ask me. The idea of intentionally moving somewhere to draw benefits is not something most irish people would have much respect for. If someone moved here to work and the job fell through that would be one thing - but to intentionally plan out a move factoring in benefits and taxpayer funded housing entitlements which are supposed to be a fallback option is taking the piss in my view.

LegacyUser

She is coming to the wrong country if she wants to get welfare as a single mum. The rules are being changed within the next few months regarding single parents....they will basically have to work....at least part time.

mrDuke

Sorry i must point out some stuff i should have mentioned and im sorry if i have led people astray.

We are friends
She has a house in UK she pays full rent on
Has abusive ex boyfriend (father of child) who wont move out of her home and im worried for her, i suggested she come to ireland.
she has no family in uk as both her grandparents have passed away
she is queit young (22)
has debt, very small but still not in the plus.
she holds down two jobs and relys on her ex boyfriend to care for the child and her child minders
her boyfriends doesnt help financially
i offered to be there for her if she came to ireland, to make sure nothing went wrong, she is now likes the idea and intends to come in the next few months
She is coming to look for a job and provide and care for her child.
Right now she feels trapped with no where to go and is stuck in a rutt, im helping to give her an alternative.
if coming to ireland she wont have a huge amount of money in her pocket other than which is can borrow before leaving home.
If all went pear shapped i will tell my family and let her move in.
She is willing to work straight away once she gets here as soon as she gets a job.
However even with a job she will need assistance as child care is expensive and so is rent and her earnings wont be large and she is a single parent. She will need support especially when trying to get settled and working.
Not every employer will give you a 9 - 5 job and not every child carer provides 9 - 5 care.
im just asking what is available to this person if she comes, she is not someone who is here to screw the system like people here seem to think (sorry if i didnt give enough information at first)
And yes there is irish people here screwing the system and saying otherwise is wrong.

mrDuke

so i go to all the trouble off giving all the information and no replys, lol, well everyone must be asleep

patrick2007

Well OP it is unfortunate that your friend is so young and finds herself in that situation.
Can she not leave her ex boyfriend in the house and move out herself as it sounds like she is paying everything herself anyway, if she leaves him there he'll soon be moved by the landlord for not paying the rent?
You say she wont have much money coming over here other than what she can borrow before she leaves, to be honest you give me the impression she is going to borrow money and basically "leg it"
I think its time to call a spade a spade, if she comes over here she will not be able to afford childcare, plus the rent on top of that unless she gets a very well paid job so it will be very easy for her to take advantage of the system despite what you say.
All this is going off your original question buy basically to answer your question I would think she would get some support from our social welfare system.
I have to say that reading thru your posts you dont paint your friend in a very good light.

gcgirl

In all fairness Childcare is way too expensive and this country is crap when it comes to affordable childcare i am a single parent of 3 and to try and get them in to some kind of child care (480 for 1 child per month and thats 5 mornings so *3 ) it would not make sence what so ever! Even renting houses your talking bout 2000 euro upfront before hand between deposit and month in advance ! In England your waiting bout 6/7 months for a council house! here it's more like 6/7 years sometimes 10 years madness!

mrDuke

Well i think people here are so funny, you agree that this woman will find it really hard to get by and struggle and yet you think it is wrong for her to seek assistance. Especially when this poor girl clearly has a predicament.

Currently she is paying rent on a councill house.

This discussion has clearly gone of topic, im looking for people to tell me from there knowledge what this person can expect in the form of assistance from the goverment till she gets a job and when she gets a job what can she still expect to get.

gcgirl

Is she english? sorry just saying that because the 2 year thing is for people who are not english!

check out this link

http://www.welfare.ie/schemes/families/opfp.html

And she can expect not very much from the social!

dudara

Moved to appropriate forum.

dudara

craichoe

This doesn't sound like your problem,

Moving to another country and relying on Social Benefit is a ridiculous idea.

A. She has no idea of how long it will take to get benefit. In some cases its take people 6 months to a year, on top of that finding a place that will take rent allowance is quite difficult.
B. It doesnt sound like shes researched it at all.
C. Sounds to me like the boyfriend wants HER to move out. TBH if shes keeping the kid she can get him thrown out quite easily.

Something really doesn't sound right here. I've moved to another country but wouldnt dream of doing it on the dole, or with a kid.

SarahMc

I think that if this woman wants to move her life on, and get back to work, she is much better staying in the UK.

Their system of supports for working lone parents is far superior in terms of housing and childcare tax credits. Under our system, it is practically impossible for a lone parent with no family support nearby (i.e. free childcare) to work.

She really needs to talk to her housing dept in the UK to get her abusive partner out of the house.

shqipshume

They will give her the hardest time i reckon,and she has too prove why she gave up her abode, same as england would ask us if we went there, been there done that and it is a load of red tape and alot of heartache, she might get it and she might not, if she volountarily gives up where she is living now she will not be given a house in any council here or any where else, its a rule, and hard one too break woth out her proof that she had too leave under fear of her life, as for social welfare if she has no fixed abode there is no chance as she is not refugee status, and she does have too be working here for 2 years and paying tax before she will get it i believe,
give her my best hope it works out for poor girl and babies

Nevyn

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/social-welfare/social-welfare-payments/social-welfare-payments-to-families-and-children

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/birth-family-relationships

Mrs. MacGyver

The habitual residence condition applies to EU nationals as well. It's not simply the 2 year rule as there are a lot of other element in it which i wont get nto here. If she is separated from her ex - partner she can make a claim for One-Parent Family parent here, they will examine hether she satisfies all the conditions for payment as in the case of any other social welfare claim.
Perhaps she should talk to her citizens info office to see where she stands firstly as highlighted above.

People come to this forum for advise NOT to have the ear chewed off them when asking a question!

shoegirl

mrDuke wrote: »

yes this girl is prepared to work, but she wants to be with me and needs some help to get settled as im only a student and she will need to get settled and sort out day time care for her son before she can work and when she works she will pay back her dues

I would be realistic here and advise her that Ireland's record on daycare services, particular affordable ones for lone parents and low income families are rare and not particularly affordable. There is no equivalent of "Surestart" in Ireland and part of the reason why a much higher percentage of lone parents in Ireland remain on welfare is due to this and disproportionately high accomodation costs for lone parent families.