Signing on by mobile phone?

I'll probably leave myself open to all kinds of abuse by asking this but does anyone know what happened to the plan to sign on by mobile phone? I remember it was part of the Social Welfare bill last November and was supposed to have begun testing in January. Haven't heard a thing about it since. I'm thinking it got thrown out with the old government.

cee_jay

AFAIK its still in the testing stage, to be rolled out towards the end of the year if they are proceeding.
From [url]www.welfare.ie:[/url]

ELECTRONIC CERTIFICATION
The Bill also introduces a provision which will allow for certain people who receive Jobseeker’s Allowance and Jobseeker’s Benefit to complete their certification (“signing-on”) process by electronic means.

Explaining this process, Minister Ó Cuív said: “At present, in order to qualify for Jobseeker’s Benefit or Jobseeker’s Allowance, the jobseeker must fulfil a number of conditions, including being available for and genuinely seeking work. To fulfil these conditions, jobseekers must at regular intervals make a declaration that they are still unemployed, available for and actively seeking work. This is what’s called the certification process or “signing-on” and is currently carried out by the jobseeker going to their Social Welfare Local Office.”

“Signing-on” is a separate process from the collection of the jobseeker’s weekly payment.

“We will be changing the current signing process in our Local and Branch Offices to collect signatures via a digital signature pad and we are exploring the possibility of using electronic channels for certification such as online through the internet or by using the mobile phone.”

The Minister added: “It is anticipated that cost savings would accrue from reducing the effort required to certify some jobseekers at the Department’s Local Offices. As a result staff resources will be freed up to concentrate on client, claim, payment and control issues. Furthermore, it is expected to reduce pressure on Local Office facilities and accommodation.”

Recipients of Jobseeker’s Allowance and Jobseeker’s Benefit will still be obliged to collect their payments weekly at their local post offices.

The Minister said: “We are currently engaged in a project to examine the potential to develop an additional channel for jobseekers certification, via the mobile phone. The initiative would provide improved customer service and also reduce the Departmental resources required to administer certification. However, deployment will not proceed unless it offers a reasonable level of control as do existing processes. A mobile phone certification solution has a number of features, from both a business process and technical perspective but the Department has to evaluate and test how these might work in practice before committing to full-scale deployment.”

This mobile phone facility will be made available on a risk assessment basis, will have high levels of control and will not be generally available on request.

http://www.welfare.ie/EN/Press/PressReleases/2010/Pages/pr191110.aspx

Whatever happened to this? I remember being asked for my mobile number one month and thought it was on the way. I suppose since they brought in the fancy signing on pads it got shelved.

(Mods I know this is a zombie thread but I hope you might turn a blind eye as it's the age of the thread which is relevant.)

LegacyUser

The "asking for the mobile number" scenario has to do with getting a text for your next signing day. I can pretty much safely say that the "signing on by mobile" ain't happening. Far too complicated for the average person, and frustrating. If it couldn't be offered to everybody, it was never going to be offered at all..

Annasopra

Benefitzer wrote: »

The "asking for the mobile number" scenario has to do with getting a text for your next signing day.

I have heard this is being trialled in a few areas.

LegacyUser

mango salsa wrote: »

I have heard this is being trialled in a few areas.

It's pretty much being rolled out across the country. It's about 50/50 across the country now. The signing on by mobile, however, is in the scrapheap!