Advice Needed Please.

RamblingRebel

Hi.

I'm wondering if anyone can help me with my problem. I've gone through loads of pages to see if anyone else has been in a similar situation to me but to no avail.

I've been on the dole now just over 3 years, but unfortunately haven't been able to secure a paying job, and believe me I was really trying to find a job. Had plenty of interviews ect and the dole never had any problems with me when they asked for the proof that I have been looking for work when I sent all that in.

One of the reasons that I have been unable to gain employment is that I have a disability that renders me incapacitated for long periods of time, and for me to become even functional (i.e. to pop down the post office to collect my money) I have to take a cocktail of painkillers which leaves me high as a kite, and I'm walking round in a bit of a haze most of the time.

Anyways. A few months ago I was due in for an interview for re-training but due to my situation (taking lots of painkillers plays havoc with my memory) I forgot that the date for the interview was on the letter that they gave me a month earlier at a previous group meeting, and I was waiting for them to send me out a letter in the post.

The first time that I was aware of missing the interview was when they sent me a letter saying I had missed it and action would be taken and that they had re-arranged for another interview.

So anyway I went to that and to be fair to the Lady she was nice enough and helpful ect, but I got €44 docked from my dole, I think she said that would be for 6 months. And she did actually give me a bit of a bollocking because I should have found a job by now as I am still young (34).

I kinda think she thought I'm just a lazy sod. But to be fair to her, I probably would've thought that too in her position.

I didn't tell her that I have a disability as I was afraid she would kick me off the dole for not being available for work.

So I'm now on €144 a week. I have to pay my rent and my bills with that too. Fair enough though it was my fault that I missed the interview, and the country's skint!

My work history was actually very good from leaving college until this disease starting to get a real grip on my body, and I'm a fully time served hydraulic and pneumatic engineer by trade.

Now it's got to the point where I have basically given up looking for a job for the last year and hoping that I could just float along under the radar, because I know from past experience (I've had this disease for almost 20 years now, and it's just been getting worse every year) that even if I was lucky enough to find a job there would be no way that I could hold it down.

I might be able to get through the first few weeks if I took a lot of painkillers regularly, but as soon as the pain kicks in I will be bed ridden for weeks unless I was to take 8 of the painkillers when the docs only says take 2.

Even then they would only make it possible for me to gain enough mobility to maintain the house like dishes, vaccum, washing, and collect my dole.

Just in case anyone's wondering why I haven't claimed housing benefit or a medical card, it's because to be frank I feel as though I would be taking the piss out of the system as I could actually manage my rent and bills on €188 a week and put around €20/30 a week away for a rainy day. No social life mind.

Now this is the bit that might piss a few people of that is reading this. I'm from England and came over here to take up work at an IT company (having retrained to a job that would be easier on my body).

Having given up my house and everything else in England I got here only to find that the company was about to fold and the guy told me that there was no job for me.

I'd like to add that I passed the HRC because I had a letter from the IT company stating that there was actually a job waiting for me but due to the economic climate it was no longer in a position to keep its agreement.

Also all my family is Irish and they all live over here, and I need to rely on them to help me so I can manage my disability and live some semblance of a life.

So here I find myself unable to sleep at 4.30am due to pain and worry!

Are there any options available to me at this point?

Any kind of advice or help really would be appreciated.

Cheers

Ste.

p.s. Sorry for the wall of text.

Enright

Others might be able to asist you better, but i think you need to come clean with the social, apply for disability allowance, you also need to re visit your doctor, as your resistance to the tables seems to have increased

imindoubth

If I were you I would definitely have a medical card. I would also apply for housing benefit and possibly look into getting the sick benefit instead of j.s.a. Lets call a spade a spade if your sick or incapacitated, well that's what you are. It shouldn't matter to you that you are English or feel you are taking money from the Irish government, you are living here in Ireland so you are allowed or within your rights to be treated the same as anyone else here in this nation.

areyawell

Apply for medical card and disability allowance. You might or might not get it

gambithh

you sound like a decent,genuine person op.
def go for housing and medical card as stated,be the best thing you ever did.

hope your luck changes.

deelite

Enright wrote: »

Others might be able to asist you better, but i think you need to come clean with the social, apply for disability allowance, you also need to re visit your doctor, as your resistance to the tables seems to have increased

Totally agree with this. Also the Social Welfare may be able to help you with other available work schemes. Afaik the National Rehabilitation Board help people with retraining, updating education skills etc. Good luck.

Equality

You should appeal the decision to reduce your social welfare, and send in a letter from your doctor outlining your medical condition in support of this. Appeal all the way to the Ombudsman, if necessary.

In addition, you should go to the community welfare officer straight away, and point out that with your medical condition the reduction in money is causing severe hardship, and you want a 'top-up' to the 188. You may not get this, but you had better try, or people in SW may form the opinion that you are doing nixers, and don't need any money at all.

Disability Allowance is the social welfare payment that suits a person in your position. You should apply for this straight away. That way you have two bites at the cherry, in that if your appeal as suggested above is lost, you may get the DA, in which case that is 188 per week, and the money currently docked would be refunded to you in an arrears payment. DA includes free travel, plus a living alone allowance and if living alone you get the household benefits also.

In addition, get your medical card and unless you are living with family go to the community welfare for help with rent and ask her to pay any doctor's bill or prescription medicine until the medical card comes through.

England is not important, if you get JA, you are habitually resident.

RamblingRebel

Thanks for the replies, very helpful indeed.

I'm assuming that if I was to apply for Disability allowance, then the JSA would be stopped straight away, and from reading on here it takes a long time (months) for these claims to be processed. In the meantime how would I go about getting some sort of payment?

If I failed to get a disability payment, when I apply for JSA again, would they use the fact that I had applied for Disability as grounds for disqualification from JSA because I am not fit for work?

From what I understand on the CWO websites is that they can't give you anything if you are in the process of applying for or appealing a decision regarding any benefits. Or have I misunderstood?

As for appealing the reduction of €44 a week. They never gave me a letter stating that I was to be docked, and I'm pretty sure she said that I couldn't appeal this decision!

I've tried ringing the woman a few times to plead my case, but each time I have had to leave a message with another worker, and she has never returned any of my calls, not even sent me a letter out.

I'm also still waiting to hear back from FAS regarding a couple of courses I applied for 3 months ago, I've been onto them, and the company that are running the course to see what is happening, and they said that they didn't know if the courses was actually going to go ahead until 29 October because of some contract dispute or other.

I've asked them to send me letters out so I had some proof that I was indeed actually making real efforts to improve my situation, but they said it was against company policy to do that and they were adamant that they wouldn't even send me a confirmation letter that I had applied for these courses.

Is there a way that I can correspond with the CWO through mail, or will I have to go see them in person? If I do have to call in personally is it OK for me to take a letter in explaining my situation for them to read as if I have to go in person I will need to take a good handful of pills to be able to queue up for a couple of hours, and then when I did get in I wouldn't really be able to explain my situation clearly because I'd be spaced out on said painkillers and I easily lose my train of thought when I am.

I'm much appreciative of all the help and advice you guys are giving me.

Thanks.

Ste.