Single parent/rent allowance/supplement

Woden

Hoping someone more enlightened can assist please as I no longer live in Ireland. Home for Christmas and a friend has a situation.

Current circumstances two full time working people in a relationship and a 6 week old baby. The mother is on maternity leave.

There has been a breakdown in the relationship and the father will likely move out. With that in mind I wanted to enquire what assistance is available. I've asked about the financials so have a rough idea.

Rent is 1500 a month. Both parents when in FTE earn about 550 after tax a week. For weeks 0-13 the mother is on 100% pay from employer. For weeks 13-26 it will be 50%. Then she plans to return to work and her family will assist with some child care.

What benefits/maintenance would she be entitled to?

What would be the first steps? Visit to local welfare office?

Thanks,

Woden

splinter65

Woden wrote: »

Hoping someone more enlightened can assist please as I no longer live in Ireland. Home for Christmas and a friend has a situation.

Current circumstances two full time working people in a relationship and a 6 week old baby. The mother is on maternity leave.

There has been a breakdown in the relationship and the father will likely move out. With that in mind I wanted to enquire what assistance is available. I've asked about the financials so have a rough idea.

Rent is 1500 a month. Both parents when in FTE earn about 550 after tax a week. For weeks 0-13 the mother is on 100% pay from employer. For weeks 13-26 it will be 50%. Then she plans to return to work and her family will assist with some child care.

What benefits/maintenance would she be entitled to?

What would be the first steps? Visit to local welfare office?

Thanks,

Woden

Too complex to explain here.
Outgoings arent taken into account when applying for SW payments.
She won’t be entitled to either OPFP or FIS because of her income. HAP is means rested too.
Difficult times ahead.
Edited to add: All will be explained at the SW office but only after she has completed application forms.
She needs to apply to her local authority to be considered as in need of housing in order to be admitted to the housing list, which is the gateway to applying for HAP.
The fact that she is working full time excludes her from Rent Supplement.

myshirt

Go through the motions with the SW office, but the short and sweet of it is there will be nothing there with that type of income.

What can be done is a bit better expense discipline. 1,500 for example is far too expensive to house one woman and a baby so she will have to move somewhere cheaper. I'd get moving on that before she finds herself in a hole.

Best of luck. Bad turn of events at Christmas time.

Woden

Thanks both for the feedback. Yes shouldering all the rent isn't feasible I agree long term. She has a little savings but it wouldn't last long. Looking to see how it develops over the next couple of weeks and suggested she gets to the social welfare office first thing in the new year and fill in the forms