Four TDs going to see what it's like to live on the dole for a week.

LostBoy101

Journal reporting this laughable piece of journalism.

WOULD YOU LIKE a TD to move into your home, experience the life you lead and essentially walk a mile in your shoes for one week?
Over the years there have been plenty of calls for politicians imposing budget cuts to live on social welfare to see how they survive.

http://www.thejournal.ie/tds-social-welfare-tv3-1640775-Aug2014/


I think a week on the dole is not going to help evaluate the full picture as they are not taking into account the ESB, Heating, Property Tax and Water Tax bills. Another PR stunt in my opinion.

Shakespeare's Sister

If some are anything to go by, they'll be living a charmed life, with luxuries left, right and centre.

LostBoy101

Shakespeare's Sister wrote: »

If some are anything to go by, they'll be living a charmed life, with luxuries left, right and centre.

Yep it's just beans and toast for a week and anybody could do that :P

I would really like to see them do it for a half term which will never happen.

InReality

Its a lot better than nothing .

There was a program few years about being homeless - they got some famous people to do it for a few days. One lad fecked off to a hotel on the first night and then didn't come back on the show at all.

Last_Minute

It's a lot different when you know after a week you're going home to a lovely mansion in a nice part of town. The thing about the dole is that if you are long term unemployed then you have very little to look forward to.

same ol sh1te

More reality tv bull sh1t, well they do say politics is show business for ugly people

Autonomous

It should be a least a month, with these to pay....ESB, LPT, TV license, water charges, school books, car tax, a hospital visit and medication to buy too.

fryup

wonder which bookies will they choose

Donkey Oaty

Tv3 says this is a “unique social experiment”

Tv3 speak with forked tongue.

4zn76tysfajdxp

The premise reminds me of a wonderful piece of investigative journalism I read some years back.

Rough Sleeper

Ayleen Green Stirrup wrote: »

The premise reminds me of a wonderful piece of investigative journalism I read some years back.

Alison O' ****ing Riordain. Chick makes Niamh Horan look like Truman Capote.

Some of her sentences looked like they'd been put through the converter for about six different languages on Google Translate. "One homeless man in a fleece with a broken zip and a can of cider in his hand offered me a cigarette. He told me he needed to drink because of the night time as it knocked him out" was probably my favourite.

The Backwards Man

Should it not be

'Four families that already have enough on their plate are made to endure livng with a TD for a week.'

The Diabolical Monocle

This is like an Irish version of some American 90's sitcom where the rich old white guy lives for a day in the projects.


Will there be break dancing ?

TD's walking round in dayglow tshirts with boom boxes.


I pour a sip for my homey Albert Reynolds.

conorh91

Rough Sleeper wrote: »

Alison O' ****ing Riordain. Chick makes Niamh Horan look like Truman Capote.

Some of her sentences looked like they'd been put through the converter for about six different languages on Google Translate. "One homeless man in a fleece with a broken zip and a can of cider in his hand offered me a cigarette. He told me he needed to drink because of the night time as it knocked him out" was probably my favourite.

Gawd I forgot who Alison O'Riordan was. I assumed she had left journalism long ago. Funny how the the top few google results for her name are people taking the piss.

http://www.broadsheet.ie/2010/11/16/now-alison-oriordan-gets-lawyered-up/

smash

Ming and Mick Wallace look like they've been on the Dole for years.

Jesus Wept

*****

RobertKK

It would be easier to cut their pay to dole levels (remove expenses) and save the state money and then they can see what it is like.
Keep them on it till they beg for their pay back as they need to pay the mortgage.

Buona Fortuna

LostBoy101 wrote: »

I think a week on the dole is not going to help evaluate the full picture as they are not taking into account the ESB, Heating, Property Tax and Water Tax bills. Another PR stunt in my opinion.

Agreed. These things are nearly always PR stunts for the reasons you state.

There was a similar type of programme on C4 (I think) a few years back. A number of actors spent a week on the dole - usual $hoite. I thought, now all the others scabbled about and got one day jobs here and there in bars and market stalls, but one of them Larry Lamb (always had him down as a bit of a cnut) didn't bother. He just concentrated on living on the dole didn't even try to look for a job. The producers and presenter pulled him aside basically saying wtf. He said - I'm 60 odd years old who's even going to give me an interview.

The honesty of it was refreshing and he came out of it less of a cnut in my eyes at least

Adamantium

The Diabolical Monocle wrote: »

Will there be break dancing ?

TD's walking round in dayglow tshirts with boom boxes.

With sexy results....

RobbingBandit

Adamantium wrote: »

With sexy results....

I'm sending you my dry cleaning bill, just threw up my dinner reading that, you sick &%$*.

Donkey Oaty

Tory MP Matthew Parris spent a week on the dole for a TV show in the 1980s, and while he believed it was tough, his attitude that it was right for it to be tough, otherwise people wouldn't bother to look for work.

Twenty years later, he made another programme where he went back to visit those he had met on the first occasion.

Here's the New Statesman's chilling review (not available on their website, but has been posted elsewhere.)

A couple of nights earlier, in a late-night slot, Matthew Parris, the
former Tory MP, revisited the Newcastle sink estate where 20 years ago
he had spent a week on the dole. He met a father whose four children
had featured in the film of his first visit. The father said his three
daughters had got jobs, but his son had hanged himself just after his
21st birthday. The young man had attended every government training
scheme going, but still couldn't find a job. "He never once moaned,"
his father said. "On the day he hanged himself, he shaved and had a
shower. He'd been practising pull-ups on the rafters to make his arms
strong for what he intended to do."

Parris said to camera that the visit hadn't changed his views about
the dole being kept low to make people look for work. People who
hanged themselves might come from a dysfunctional family, and it
wasn't fair to blame politicians.

As bad as the TDs will be on this show - and I expect them to be truly appalling - I doubt they'll come anywhere close to that.

The Peanut

Can I vote for four FG TD's to crash at Chez Dundon for a week?

Hotfail.com

Autonomous wrote: »

It should be a least a month, with these to pay....ESB, LPT, TV license, water charges, school books, car tax, a hospital visit and medication to buy too.

Don't forget experiencing the stigma of being long-term unemployed, and all the stress/potential mental health issues which go with it.

Dartz

Redonkulous publicity stunt.

Living on the Dole is more than just one week.... it's absolutely indeterminate. It's week after week after week of being made to feel utterly worthless, until ultimately you just start to believe you really are worthless and stop giving a ****.

Bafucin

LostBoy101 wrote: »

Journal reporting this laughable piece of journalism.




http://www.thejournal.ie/tds-social-welfare-tv3-1640775-Aug2014/


I think a week on the dole is not going to help evaluate the full picture as they are not taking into account the ESB, Heating, Property Tax and Water Tax bills. Another PR stunt in my opinion.

Would love to seem them do it for six months with a family.

Cookie_Monster

so are they just going to sit around for a week and live within the budget or are they supposed to be out job seeking and so forth. seems pretty pointless to me either way for such a short period.

Dowl88

Will probably be down skulling pints in the pub, smoking fags, going for take aways, driving a car, buy some new clothes, go on a foreign holiday.

And if they meet up with a young wan with a child who has a house they can have free accomadation too.

Bafucin

A couple of nights earlier, in a late-night slot, Matthew Parris, the
former Tory MP, revisited the Newcastle sink estate where 20 years ago
he had spent a week on the dole. He met a father whose four children
had featured in the film of his first visit. The father said his three
daughters had got jobs, but his son had hanged himself just after his
21st birthday. The young man had attended every government training
scheme going, but still couldn't find a job. "He never once moaned,"
his father said. "On the day he hanged himself, he shaved and had a
shower. He'd been practising pull-ups on the rafters to make his arms
strong for what he intended to do."

Parris said to camera that the visit hadn't changed his views about
the dole being kept low to make people look for work. People who
hanged themselves might come from a dysfunctional family, and it
wasn't fair to blame politicians.

This sadly is very relevant to certain parts of Dublin and I am sure elsewhere in the country.

Idbatterim

What bull****! I expect to hear how hard it is yada yada yada. Well your getting money for nothing and god knows what other perks... Here's a sob story, go out and work and you get to pay for everything and everybody else.
What are they going to investigate? Europes most generous and lenient welfare state? One which was massively protected during the downturn at the expense of everyone else? Spare me.

Obviously this isn't aimed at the recently graduated or unemployed! It's aimed at the minimum 100,000 wasters here who play the system and tax payers for fools and have done so for years with government support!

MadsL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuTMWgOduFM

ardle1

Oh that's great....
And will they be injected with the depressive feelings of 'worthless-ness', ever declining confidence etc etc..:rolleyes:

Kamik

PLEASE lets be honest about it!

As part of a new documentary series for TV3, four TDs will be saying goodbye to their salaries and cutting up the credit cards.

THAT will NOT happen!
Their salaries will still be paid into their bank account as normal (just not withdrawn) and while they MAY not be allowed to use their credit cards for a miserable week they will still own one!

Damn! even in a fun game politicians still can not be honest!
Pull the wool over your eyes but you can still smell the stench of inaccuracy!

Dartz

If they wanted to **** with them, on the final day, the present will come up to them and calmly say that they will not be allowed to return to work, and will spend another 'week' on the show.

And a week after that.

Y'know, just to add a little uncertaintly to everything. Maybe even ask them to actually apply for a job or two.

Hotfail.com

Kamik wrote: »

PLEASE lets be honest about it!


THAT will NOT happen!
Their salaries will still be paid into their bank account as normal (just not withdrawn) and while they MAY not be allowed to use their credit cards for a miserable week they will still own one!

Damn! even in a fun game politicians still can not be honest!
Pull the wool over your eyes but you can still smell the stench of inaccuracy!

It's a load of shíte, I think everyone can see that.

kowloon

Ayleen Green Stirrup wrote: »

The premise reminds me of a wonderful piece of investigative journalism I read some years back.

Just the thing I was thinking of. You could live well on welfare if all of the longer term expenses are out of the picture. That's before any of the effects of knowing there's a light at the end of the tunnel are accounted for.

osarusan

Stupid pointless publicity stunt.

A week isn't long enough to see how costs needs to be covered over longer periods of time.

anyway, no matter how long the experiment lasts, they won't experience the feeling of not knowing when/if you're going to get a job. That uncertainty and fear was, for me at least, the worst thing about being on the dole.

Tordelback

All this will do is reinforce the idea that the dole is plenty to live on for a week: which it is. What is difficult is to live on it for a year, or two, or more - unable to replace things that wear out, unable to save, unable to pay for sports clubs or gyms, unable to plan, unable to participate in the world you used to belong to, unable to imagine a future that is anything but worse than the present as everything slowly falls apart, all the while getting used to the way that people now see you, especially those that are supposed to be helping you: just one more lazy fecking parasite. That's what's hard about being unemployed. Not having to shop in Lidl and forego an early-morning round at Druid's Glen.

In Lonesome Dove

I think this is admirable but one week is absolutely nothing to experience what it's really like. Bills such as esb, gas, oil, home heating such as coal and briquettes, rubbish removal - well they all add up over time and a week on dole isn't reflective of what's it's really like. Not to mention if an appliance breaks, it often remains broken. A week doesn't take into account if an unexpected event such as a family funeral comes along.

All that will happen here is these TDs will come out saying - life on the dole is a walk in the park and it will be used as an excuse come budget time to cut the dole.

conorhal

LostBoy101 wrote: »

Journal reporting this laughable piece of journalism.




http://www.thejournal.ie/tds-social-welfare-tv3-1640775-Aug2014/


I think a week on the dole is not going to help evaluate the full picture as they are not taking into account the ESB, Heating, Property Tax and Water Tax bills. Another PR stunt in my opinion.

Just give the electorate another 18 months and we'll do our best to see that as many members of this current government as possible get to enjoy a more extended experience of the dole queue........

Riverireland

Last_Minute wrote: »

It's a lot different when you know after a week you're going home to a lovely mansion in a nice part of town. The thing about the dole is that if you are long term unemployed then you have very little to look forward to.

True, they would need to do it for at least a year to get an understanding of it.

Boskowski

Autonomous wrote: »

It should be a least a month, with these to pay....ESB, LPT, TV license, water charges, school books, car tax, a hospital visit and medication to buy too.

Is that because someone on the dole has to pay all of that every month?

Spring Onion

This is such an assholish idea, they should be ashamed. Patronising idiots.

Berserker

Publicity stunt supreme. Classic TV3 stuff. It's on a par with that awful SF documentary talking to Mary-Lou doing her weekly shopping in Superquinn.

I guess it'll be four newbies pretending to be in touch with the common man and women. They better schedule a manicure for the day after it finishes because their hands and nails will be destroyed after a full week of playing the PS4 and/or Xbox.

Mr Freeze

As part of a new documentary series for TV3,

Stopped reading there.

whiskeyman

I bet they'll still claim expenses travelling to their new abodes of the less well off...

Ush1

Autonomous wrote: »

It should be a least a month, with these to pay....ESB, LPT, TV license, water charges, school books, car tax, a hospital visit and medication to buy too.

Umm, isn't quite a lot of what you've listed subsidised if you're social welfare?

smellmepower

Will they face the embarrassment of having queue up in the post office for their weekly handout?will they have to deal with the incompetent condescending twats in FAS (or whatever its been re-branded to) trying to force them on to useless courses just to cover their own well paid backsides?when they meet people they sort of know in the street,will they make up a story about what they've been up to lately because they're too ashamed to admit they're signing on?

Nah,it'll be like that secret millionaire show,only they won't be giving out any money at the end,they'll be fecking off back to their luxurious homes and well paid,secure jobs whilst disdainfully claiming that living off SW isn't hard at all and sure people just need to look harder for liveable wage jobs that aren't there.

smellmepower

Ush1 wrote: »

Umm, isn't quite a lot of what you've listed subsidised if you're social welfare?

Hospital visit and medication IF you qualify for a medical card.

Back to school clothing and footwear allowance wouldn't come near cost of covering book costs,especially for a secondary school student.

No discount for household utilities or water/LPT/waste.

ShagNastii

I know it gets jumped on by most here but I’d love to have one or two of the TDs placed with one or two of the many scroungers we all know. The people who see the dole as a wage and not a helping hand whilst you are between jobs. When I graduated college I took part-time job in the bar I worked in to get myself through college until I broke by balls to get out of there and get into the good position I’m in now.

It used to break my heart when day in day out you would have to listen to the EVERYDAY crowd talk crap about the economy and “that shower on the take up in Leinster house”. Between drinking, smoking and betting I hadn’t a clue (and still don’t know) how they afforded it. None working and I’d be 99% sure none of them know what a CV is or pursued gainful employee during my few months there.

Nil chance of that happening though. It will be some 30-something couples up to their tits in negative equity he used to be a builder, she’ll be a squeezed to the hilt nurse. TV3 will love the taste of their martyrdom.

Timberrrrrrrr

If they are doing this then it should be for at least 3 months, If they were serious about "getting a feel" fr life on the dole then a week is nowhere near enough time to understand the hardships people have to go through.

sunbeam

Dartz wrote: »

If they wanted to **** with them, on the final day, the present will come up to them and calmly say that they will not be allowed to return to work, and will spend another 'week' on the show.

And a week after that.

Y'know, just to add a little uncertaintly to everything. Maybe even ask them to actually apply for a job or two.

I used to fantasise about that when I was a carer. Stick them on 'I'm A Carer-Get Me Out of Here' to experience the reality of a week of 24/7 caring for a severely incapacitated person on a meagre carers allowance with zero help, then calmly inform them that like most carers they wouldn't just get to walk away whenever they pleased. Of course nobody would subject their loved ones to being 'cared' for by a TD, so it probably wouldn't work.