Welcome to Bonkers Land

Dannyboy83

My partner recently managed to get a job after being unemployed since mid-2008.

It's only part-time, but she was getting nothing from the Department of Social Welfare after her JSB expired, so it's better than nothing (literally).

However, she was working out her pay yesterday and she'll be coming out with €250.85 for 29 hours work (Gross).
From the 1st of February, this will be €221.85 for 29 hours work (Gross)!

I agree with reducing the minimum wage if it's going to help get people back to work, but we're currently experiencing the highest inflation in 2 years!.

From February 1st 2011, someone on the dole will be financially better off in net income than working 29 hours per week.

And the national minimum wage has been reduced while everything else become MORE expensive.

We didn't have a choice in our case as the Irish department of Social Welfare are blatantly racist (complaint lodged), but I'm scratching my head wondering why Irish people would bother going back to work at all - if they could.

RasTa

Dannyboy83 wrote: »

We didn't have a choice in our case as the Irish department of Social Welfare are blatantly racist (complaint lodged), but I'm scratching my head wondering why Irish people would bother going back to work at all - if they could.

Explain? Although yeah your point makes sense.

Dannyboy83

RasTa wrote: »

Explain? Although yeah your point makes sense.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056076736

The deciding officer used the Habitual Residence rule against her, to exclude her. (She was gone for briefly during the summer to provide palliative care for her mother who died of a brain tumour - they insisted she was gone for a year, even tho we have proof she was only gone for a few weeks and has lived here continuously for 6 years).

I know knew plenty of immigrants and believe me, the DSW got great milage out of the Habitual Residence Rule.
Would truely make you ashamed to be Irish to see what they have done to some people.

drunkmonkey

There not bothering that's the problem. 200 euro for nothing and all the perks or 220 for 30 hours and no perks. It's a bit of a no brainer.
The dole is too high, it should only cover basics, you should not be able to afford broadband, sky tv, cigarettes or alcohol on the dole. It may sound cruel but all those are luxuries and the tax payer should not be sponsoring them.
I'm not talking about people who do work and are just out of work i'm talking about the other half who have no intention of working as it's too easy with the dole and the black market trade.
In your OH's situation she is better off not working. If it was me i'd rather do a few nixers and get the dole, you'd be so much better off.

Minimum wage should be disbanded, some people are hardly worth 3 euro an hour and employer having to pay them a minimum of 7.65 will never employ them. Scrap minimum wage or at least bechmark it to qualifications.

Your right it's bonkers land and there's so many opinions and everyone has the right to their say that it will never be anything but bonkers land.

Funkfield

Sorry to derail slightly but Op, did you appeal the HRC decision with your proof?

Dannyboy83

Funkfield wrote: »

Sorry to derail slightly but Op, did you appeal the HRC decision with your proof?

Under appeal, we were informed several months ago that it will take many, many months.

Judging by others I know, it's a minimum of 12 months.

Dannyboy83

drunkmonkey wrote: »

In your OH's situation she is better off not working. If it was me i'd rather do a few nixers and get the dole, you'd be so much better off.

If she was able to get it, I'd tell her to have some cop on and get fired.
We don't have that choice unfortunately.

If I lost my job tho, I'd definitely tell her to pack hers in too!

Minimum wage should be disbanded, some people are hardly worth 3 euro an hour and employer having to pay them a minimum of 7.65 will never employ them. Scrap minimum wage or at least bechmark it to qualifications.

I wouldn't agree with this tbh, i.e. scrapping the national minimum wage.
Her employers are ruthless, I could see them hiring people for €1 per hour if it was legal, seriously.

All that's needed is some kind of incentive, it shouldn't be hard to implement.

If minimum wage is €7.65 per hour, then dole should be 50% of that.
Bring it back to 2002 levels, along with everything else in the economy.
If you need more, or other benefits, then you qualify for them as necessary.

Funkfield

You are usually entitled to be paid by the HSE while it is under appeal. You will need to talk to your local Community Welfare Officer.

Ring this number 1850 24 1850. They'll let you know where your local CWO is.

Dannyboy83

Funkfield wrote: »

You are usually entitled to be paid by the HSE while it is under appeal. You will need to talk to your local Community Welfare Officer.

Ring this number 1850 24 1850. They'll let you know where your local CWO is.

She already visited them back in September.
They turned her away.

She told she had nowhere to stay, no money to even get home.
They shrugged their shoulders and told her to contact her local community centre or St.Vincent De Paul:pac:

Far from an isolated incident.
If she were not my partner, she would have been on the streets - many thousands of people are.

(BTW, She just completed an ECDL course with Fas and never received a cent)

zig

drunkmonkey wrote: »

There not bothering that's the problem. 200 euro for nothing and all the perks or 220 for 30 hours and no perks. It's a bit of a no brainer.
The dole is too high, it should only cover basics, you should not be able to afford broadband, sky tv, cigarettes or alcohol on the dole. It may sound cruel but all those are luxuries and the tax payer should not be sponsoring them.
I'm not talking about people who do work and are just out of work i'm talking about the other half who have no intention of working as it's too easy with the dole and the black market trade.
In your OH's situation she is better off not working. If it was me i'd rather do a few nixers and get the dole, you'd be so much better off.

Minimum wage should be disbanded, some people are hardly worth 3 euro an hour and employer having to pay them a minimum of 7.65 will never employ them. Scrap minimum wage or at least bechmark it to qualifications.

Your right it's bonkers land and there's so many opinions and everyone has the right to their say that it will never be anything but bonkers land.

Scrap minimum wage??? Do you realise the whole idea of encourage multi national companies in here is to give us a better standard of living and improve our economy. Its not just to have them here for the sake of it so they can use and abuse us, cause thats exactly what they'd do.

As for your comments on the dole, I dont believe broadband is a luxury this day in age, im serious about that, maybe your right about the others. Im unemployed 5 months now, I dont get rent allowance so Im taking home 188 a week. I dont go out, if I do , its a massive occasion that I must financially prepare for, for a few weeks. I do have chorus but the situation is that there are others in the house, not all of us are unemployed. What are we supposed to do , leave the sitting room every time the tv comes on? Im just pointing this out because its a situation that would be common place. I whole heartedly agree about drink/booze, they are luxuries, but I cant afford them so I guess theres point discussing that.

My point is, while yes, the dole is still a little too high, there isnt much room left for dropping it, maybe another 20 a week max but any less than that alot of people are just about barely surviving.

deise blue

As a small bright note for your partner both Labour & FG have both unequivocally stated that if returned to Government they will reverse the 1 euro cut to the minimum wage.

later12

Dannyboy83 wrote: »

From February 1st 2011[/URL], someone on the dole will be financially better off in net income than working 29 hours per week.

In fairness, while I do think that JSA and JSB ought to be cut further, the key term here is ''29 hours per week''. That is not much more than a part time job, and those on the dole will always inevitably be better off than those in some form of part time work. Most people are searching for full time work.

By the way, if your partner were on the dole she would probably be receiving less than the maximum rate since you are cohabiting, and she probably wouldn't be entitled to any rental aid either.

Even if she were on the maximum JSA amount (188 euro on the rate alone?), she's probably better off working even factoring in fuel allowance.

And the national minimum wage has been reduced while everything else become MORE expensive.

With the exception of oil, that's probably not really true on any practical level.

Liam Byrne

Dannyboy83 wrote: »

If minimum wage is €7.65 per hour, then dole should be 50% of that.
Bring it back to 2002 levels, along with everything else in the economy.

And therein lies the problem.

Fuel, insurance, mortgages, etc have all gone UP.

I remember being abroad in Spain where stuff was dirt cheap, and you'd reckon "wouldn't it be great to live here".........it would, if the wages were the same as here, or if you had made your million.

Yes, wages and dole need to be pulled back to those levels, but greed and profiteering also need to be.

In an ideal world, we could rely on market forces to manage this for us, with the prices dropping as soon as companies felt the pinch; but it's too much of a gamble and it's about time the government did something to assist ordinary people through this period.

As involuntary owners of the banks, getting them to cop the feck on would be a good start.

donkey balls

There are some companies out there that are taking the p*ss regarding wages and beleive me they are making serious profits,One company in particular took over a contract from my old company they are paying the staff(which are agency) half what I use to pay my lads.
We are really on a downward spiral regarding wages&T&C,s most companies use agencies as a way around hiring full time staff,And yet we have lenny telling us that or living standards/deflation have fallen back to 2006 levels:rolleyes:.
I can only speak for myself and everything that I would consider an essential item house/car& health insurance plus petrol have gone up since 2006,Now before people start going on mini rants that everyone lived the good life with trips to New York+ three sun holidays a year etc I did not.
I had a good job&wage used an aul 01 reg car etc never bought into the new car in the drive lark even though I could get a loan in excess of 40k for one,Since being let go I have done temping work through an agency and they have reduced my wages twice working for a certain employer yet other employers(which would be smaller) have not.
As the saying goes pay peanuts get monkeys.

Mister men

drunkmonkey wrote: »

There not bothering that's the problem. 200 euro for nothing and all the perks or 220 for 30 hours and no perks. It's a bit of a no brainer.
The dole is too high, it should only cover basics, you should not be able to afford broadband, sky tv, cigarettes or alcohol on the dole. It may sound cruel but all those are luxuries and the tax payer should not be sponsoring them.
I'm not talking about people who do work and are just out of work i'm talking about the other half who have no intention of working as it's too easy with the dole and the black market trade.
In your OH's situation she is better off not working. If it was me i'd rather do a few nixers and get the dole, you'd be so much better off.

Minimum wage should be disbanded, some people are hardly worth 3 euro an hour and employer having to pay them a minimum of 7.65 will never employ them. Scrap minimum wage or at least bechmark it to qualifications.

Your right it's bonkers land and there's so many opinions and everyone has the right to their say that it will never be anything but bonkers land.

Minimum wage is a disgrace at 7.65 an hour. How anyone can make ends meet on that sort of money is beyond me. The price of living has skyrocketed these last 12 months how in the hell can you say REDUCE minimum wage.

RasTa

Mister men wrote: »

Minimum wage is a disgrace at 7.65 an hour. How anyone can make ends meet on that sort of money is beyond me. The price of living has skyrocketed these last 12 months how in the hell can you say REDUCE minimum wage.

What? Only thing I can think of that has gone up is petrol. As my housemate said what's the point in cutting €40 per week of people who work full time at minimum wage and at the same time cutting €5 off the dole.

BluePlanet

RasTa wrote: »

What? Only thing I can think of that has gone up is petrol. As my housemate said what's the point in cutting €40 per week of people who work full time at minimum wage and at the same time cutting €5 off the dole.

Then you're not following the news.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2011/0121/1224288007833.html

later12

donkey balls wrote: »

As the saying goes pay peanuts get monkeys.

That certainly is not what they say in Germany - a country as distinguished for its wage restraint as it is for its competitive industrial economy and reliable workforce.

We need to quit it with the exaggerations. 7.65/ hr is not a peanut wage. We need to do everything we can to encourage both indigenous and foreign direct investment in the Republic of Ireland and wage restraint, as well as tax considerations, is inevitably one of the most important aspects of any such effort.

I realise that a 40 euro per week cut of the gross rate is serious and significant and I don't mean to be insensitive to that, but really if you haven't woken up to Ireland's financial troubles by now then perhaps you should take a harder look around you.

later12

BluePlanet wrote: »

Then you're not following the news.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2011/0121/1224288007833.html

That isn't much of a contradiction, the core inflationary rate in Ireland is actually still negative, and real inflation itself is based on commodity prices. He's not really incorrect. You accuse the poster of not following the news, and although you might be following it I'm afraid that you're not really reading it.

RasTa

BluePlanet wrote: »

Then you're not following the news.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2011/0121/1224288007833.html

lol did you even read the article you quoted, highest rate in two years?!

Where as Mistermen stated

The price of living has skyrocketed these last 12 months

later12

RasTa wrote: »

lol did you even read the article you quoted, highest rate in two years?!

Where as Mistermen stated

I think the poster quoted this post.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=70199789&postcount=16

thebullkf

drunkmonkey wrote: »

There not bothering that's the problem. 200 euro for nothing and all the perks or 220 for 30 hours and no perks. It's a bit of a no brainer.
The dole is too high, it should only cover basics, you should not be able to afford broadband, sky tv, cigarettes or alcohol on the dole. It may sound cruel but all those are luxuries and the tax payer should not be sponsoring them.
I'm not talking about people who do work and are just out of work i'm talking about the other half who have no intention of working as it's too easy with the dole and the black market trade.
In your OH's situation she is better off not working. If it was me i'd rather do a few nixers and get the dole, you'd be so much better off.

Minimum wage should be disbanded, some people are hardly worth 3 euro an hour and employer having to pay them a minimum of 7.65 will never employ them. Scrap minimum wage or at least bechmark it to qualifications.

Your right it's bonkers land and there's so many opinions and everyone has the right to their say that it will never be anything but bonkers land.

who affords those things on the dole???



people who nixer do... thats who. :rolleyes:

nixering is undeclared income,simple as . taxi driver's are slated for doing it, yet any 'normal' joe soap that does it, sdeems to be fine.

btw i'm not a taxi driver:)

lmimmfn

the dole is far too high, if you have 1 or more kids and youre getting 192 a week, possibly rent allowance, then free medical for the kids and nigh on free prescriptions its nearly stupid to work.
How they can reduce the minimum wage by around 1euro, which is 40euro for a working week while only reducing dole by 8 euro is beyond me.

The ONLY way that it is effective is if youre married and 1 is on minimum wage and the other is on a good salary you can get the other persons credits. Which is bloody stupid because it forces married couples to both be working( otherwise you would be just as well off being single ) and then pay 700+euro a month childcare( for just 1 child ).

Chris_5339762

Solution - reduce the dole by €10 for every month you are on it.

Month 1 - €192 per week (or whatever it is)
Month 2 - €182 per week
Month 3 - €172 per week

Down to a minimum of about 80 or something. Would encourage people back to work without being a sudden drop.