Coolock office

tarawn

I rang Coolock about signing on as my old office is closed til a later date and they told me not to bother coming in cause the que is crazy. What should I do. Can I get away with not signing and still receive my payments.

Allah Hu Akbar

tarawn wrote: »

Can I get away with not signing and still receive my payments.

No you have to sign on every month.

Carawaystick

No - I got a letter saying Signing is suspended cos the office in Balbriggan is closed - due to the unforeseen circumstances of the staff reaching retirement age....

I just collect dole at my local post office.

mattDL

This is something that's going to happen very shortly the way things are going (suspend signing, that is). Offices are already closing to the public on random days just to try and clear backlogs, but its not working. What's needed is an immediate redeployment of staff to Social Welfare offices all over the country. The Dept set up a small section in a Dublin Head Office to help out other offices, which is a start. Social Welfare offices just can't cope at the moment with the volume of new claims and maintaining the existing claimload so something's going to have to give.

tarawn

Carawaystick wrote: »

No - I got a letter saying Signing is suspended cos the office in Balbriggan is closed - due to the unforeseen circumstances of the staff reaching retirement age....

I just collect dole at my local post office.

Thank you very much Carawaystick. You have put my mind at ease. I hope I get a letter soon. I see that there is a date on the end of my P.O receipts for an April signing so that maybe when I'm to head back to sign.

Nolanger

mattDL wrote: »

What's needed is an immediate redeployment of staff to Social Welfare offices all over the country.

What's needed is better organisation and streamlining of the system in dole offices.
Most places don't have enough room for extra staff.

j2u

Carawaystick wrote: »

No - I got a letter saying Signing is suspended cos the office in Balbriggan is closed - due to the unforeseen circumstances of the staff reaching retirement age....

I just collect dole at my local post office.

regarding the balbriggan branch i was stopped a weeks dole a few months ago because they first said i was supposed to have signed on in balbriggan because it was anticipated the balbriggan office would be back up an running at that time. they just gave me double the next week due to their mistake. its an absolute joke . i was up in the coolock office a few weeks ago and one of the senior staff members said that 5 of of them in coolock had been let go and put on the dole. Its crazy that at this time they decide to cut jobs at the welfare office which is where they are most needed. I am now back working temporarily and i cant get through to the social welfare office in coolock to let them know. How many other people are out there that cant get off the dole not because they cant get a job but because they cant get through to their social welfare office. The only thing i can do is train some pigeons or ferrets if i can get hold of some to deliver the message because they wont respond to emails and they wont answer the phone.

Eoineo

j2u wrote: »

regarding the balbriggan branch i was stopped a weeks dole a few months ago because they first said i was supposed to have signed on in balbriggan because it was anticipated the balbriggan office would be back up an running at that time. they just gave me double the next week due to their mistake. its an absolute joke . i was up in the coolock office a few weeks ago and one of the senior staff members said that 5 of of them in coolock had been let go and put on the dole. Its crazy that at this time they decide to cut jobs at the welfare office which is where they are most needed. I am now back working temporarily and i cant get through to the social welfare office in coolock to let them know. How many other people are out there that cant get off the dole not because they cant get a job but because they cant get through to their social welfare office. The only thing i can do is train some pigeons or ferrets if i can get hold of some to deliver the message because they wont respond to emails and they wont answer the phone.

The Coolock office is doing the best they can given the fact that they are covering for their own clients and also for the Balbriggan Office which didn't just service the Balbriggan area. OPW did have a location selected and it was due to open in Autumn 2009 and unfortunately this ran into problems and they had to go back and recommence the selection process.

They are opening post but there is a delay. Perhaps if you urgently need to get a hold of them you should ask someone to drop a note into the counter to them or send a registered letter.

j2u

i managed to get through to the social welfare office in ballymun and the woman on the phone said she knows someone who works in coolock and will email them to let them know but still no contact from them to confirm that its being dealt with. I owe them back one weeks dole as i collected it while i was working as i am getting paid monthly and wont get paid until next week . So i borrowed from family mostly through this month with the exception of one week but how am i supposed to give the money back if they wont reply with any instructions on how to do so?

miss choc

Coolock are a nightmare to get through to on the phone I used to keep ringing in the end walked up to them and waited to be seen. I know they are mad busy but the logic would be then to employ some temps at least to answer phones and acknowledge you or put a voicemail on it.