The 350 a week was a catastrophic and costly mistake

rahmalec

hi5 wrote: »

I hope they catch me!
I was earning about €1000 a week as self employed in a non essential service.
For the last two months I've been on €350, the bills are piling up, my expenses didn't go away.
Luckily I had some savings set aside for something else so I'll take it on the chin.
And I'm not the only one in this situation.
Will an investigation give me the extra €650 per week that I lost?

I was self employed too (mix of paye and self employed more like). Have managed to keep 100 a week or so out of about 1000 a week, but have now been booted off the 350 scheme!!! To those who don't think there'll be clawbacks, you're well wrong, it's happening already!
Thankfully I don't have any serious bills to pay and have some savings, but I'll be out of work for a long time. My cancellations stretch to November already!

I don't care about the part-timers getting their 350 at all. If it's all spent in the restaurants, pubs, and, God hoping, live events whenever they come back, all the better.

snowgal

rahmalec wrote: »

I was self employed too (mix of paye and self employed more like). Have managed to keep 100 a week or so out of about 1000 a week, but have now been booted off the 350 scheme!!! To those who don't think there'll be clawbacks, you're well wrong, it's happening already!
Thankfully I don't have any serious bills to pay and have some savings, but I'll be out of work for a long time. My cancellations stretch to November already!

I don't care about the part-timers getting their 350 at all. If it's all spent in the restaurants, pubs, and, God hoping, live events whenever they come back, all the better.

why were you booted off it? Thats strange

Seems like a plan.

“ Payments will be in place as long as restrictions remain
Efforts will be made to transfer people off the emergency €350 payment to the wage subsidy scheme as quickly as possible
The reduction in payments must happen in tandem with the lifting of restrictions
Part-time workers including students who are “better off” on the payment will see a reduction in their payments
Recipients of the emergency payment such as lone parents who are also in receipt of other welfare payments are likely to face a “clawback” of money of over €1,000 by way of a retrospective means testing
It is planned that anyone receiving the pandemic payment who turns down an offer of a return to work will become ineligible for it
Greater enforcement powers are being examined to police those refusing offers to return to work.”

https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/350-a-week-covid-19-payment-stays-until-august-1001045.html

rahmalec

snowgal wrote: »

why were you booted off it? Thats strange

Because I'm still earning 100 a week.

Dakota Dan

rahmalec wrote: »

Because I'm still earning 100 a week.

And on other news a teenager was caught getting 6 payments a week.

Idbatterim

Banana Republic 1 wrote: »

Sure you probably voted them back in.

I voted sf, after voting fg the last two elections. I thought sf might do something on housing, fg claims of sf being a danger to the economy fg themselves are a farce with the economy. Here everyone, have e350 , regardless of previous income. Part and parcel of living in a banana republic; that the welfare isnt linked to what you paid in, like the idiot germans etc do ...

Tea drinker

jobeenfitz wrote: »

Giving money to people who need it in a crises. Better than bailing out banks an bond holders. I don't like FG but fair play to them.

From a moral standpoint have to agree with you - up to a point.
The tax burden on people will be soon unbearable. So we have USC to pay the ~200 billion loans for the banks and we already racked up a further 30 Billion due to Covid in a few weeks. There's some difficult choices coming soon, and deferring them merely makes it less and less positive outcome.
The country is in terrible shape, and protecting the health service to such an extent we end up not being able to pay for a health service is not "good science"

Wanderer78

Tea drinker wrote: »

From a moral standpoint have to agree with you - up to a point.
The tax burden on people will be soon unbearable. So we have USC to pay the ~200 billion loans for the banks and we already racked up a further 30 Billion due to Covid in a few weeks. There's some difficult choices coming soon, and deferring them merely makes it less and less positive outcome.
The country is in terrible shape, and protecting the health service to such an extent we end up not being able to pay for a health service is not "good science"

the disturbing thing is, leo and co are already talking about raining in the debt, if they proceed with this, we truly are goosed

splinter65

Geuze wrote: »

You seem to be assuming that the fiscal expenditure multiplier is >1.

That if the Govt spends an extra 100, then the economy grows by more than the extra 100.

https://www.fiscalcouncil.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Ireland%E2%80%99s-Spending-Multipliers-Final.pdf

Table 4.1 in this analysis suggests to me that the exp multiplier is 1.3, but 0.9 in the long-run?

Table 4.2 suggests multipliers of 1.2 and 0.9 in the long-run.

I was just being cheerfully flippant really as is my wont.

Fred Cryton

Idbatterim wrote: »

I voted sf, after voting fg the last two elections. I thought sf might do something on housing, fg claims of sf being a danger to the economy fg themselves are a farce with the economy. Here everyone, have e350 , regardless of previous income. Part and parcel of living in a banana republic; that the welfare isnt linked to what you paid in, like the idiot germans etc do ...

You do realise SF want the 350 to last the whole of 2020? You seriously think SF wouldn't be handing out more welfare left right and centre if they were in charge?

Montage of Feck

I sick off both SF and FF both stooping to ridiculous points scoring with little regard to the consequences.

1123heavy

I used to be a PAYE employee and also did self employment work on the side. My take home was around 4,000EU a month. Since COVID started I have been laid off the PAYE job and my services are not required in the self employed job so I'm down to the 350EU a week payment.

My question is if I were to get a job at say Lidl or Mcdonalds, be it part time or full time, would the 350EU payment stop? My understanding was that anyone who had their income reduced as a result of COVID was entitled, but this thread leaves a different impression on me.

Thanks

Turbofocus

1123heavy wrote: »

I used to be a PAYE employee and also did self employment work on the side. My take home was around 4,000EU a month. Since COVID started I have been laid off the PAYE job and my services are not required in the self employed job so I'm down to the 350EU a week payment.

My question is if I were to get a job at say Lidl or Mcdonalds, be it part time or full time, would the 350EU payment stop? My understanding was that anyone who had their income reduced as a result of COVID was entitled, but this thread leaves a different impression on me.

Thanks

Soon as u earn €1 your cut off the 350.

rahmalec

Turbofocus wrote: »

Soon as u earn €1 your cut off the 350.

Yep, I can confirm this from experience.

1123heavy

Nasty, cheers though

Banana Republic 1

Wibbs wrote: »

I know three people who get this payment who have continued to work "off the books", so that's in play too. IMHO they should reduce it to the basic social welfare payments and kick off means testing.

Report them rather then bleat on about it

Idbatterim

Fred Cryton wrote: »

You do realise SF want the 350 to last the whole of 2020? You seriously think SF wouldn't be handing out more welfare left right and centre if they were in charge?

Fred what I realise is, that FG despite talking about workers, are all for the obscene welfare state and rip off housing for workers. I also realise that them talking about being a safe pair of hands for the economy, is comedy!

Banana Republic 1

Sean.3516 wrote: »

I’m wondering why it wasn’t means tested to begin with. And given on a graduated basis as opposed to the full €350 for anyone who qualifies. I know a first year college student (who is by no means economically disadvantaged) that was working part time in Eddie Rocket’s and is now receiving €350 a week which they’ve been spending on Amazon during the lockdown.

Surely the bureaucratic nightmare of means testing this in some way is worth the savings in revenue from fraud.

No I wouldn't have been. the The crackdown on fraudsters that Leo launched their last year costs more than the fraud it prevents

Banana Republic 1

LuasSimon wrote: »

Part time workers definitely should be on JSA when the 12 weeks are up .
Even to bring the 350 down to 300 for a further 6 weeks would make a significant reduction in cost and still give people a good bit more than the standard dole .

Administering the full time part time list of that would cost more

tylercheribini

Banana Republic 1 wrote: »

No I wouldn't have been. the The crackdown on fraudsters that Leo launched their last year costs more than the fraud it prevents

As stated in a previous post of mine, I worked as a TCO processing new claims in a dole office, it was an eyeopener to say the least. It took 3 people (on a variety of salaries ranging from basic to outrageously overpaid) to process and award a claim and thats not including the meddling of a lame duck manager and the whole sub-industry of endless form printing. It is an utter falacy that the machinations of the completely dysfunctional DEASP somehow saves the beloved taxpayer money. Three salaries to pay 350 euro, you do the math as they say.

Banana Republic 1

joebloggs32 wrote: »

If they didn't lash out cash to some people way above what they were earning then yes.
My sister in law is student. Had a part time job earning up to max €150 per week.
Covid payment put her on €350.
Moved home, stopped paying rent and has now been able to splash out €2500 on a car!

Is she going to tax insure and put fuel in the car or just look at it.

1123heavy

joebloggs32 wrote: »

If they didn't lash out cash to some people way above what they were earning then yes.
My sister in law is student. Had a part time job earning up to max €150 per week.
Covid payment put her on €350.
Moved home, stopped paying rent and has now been able to splash out €2500 on a car!

I will never know why the government did not put a limit on the payment, i.e. you will get paid your regular weekly wage up to a limit of 350EU.

If you earned 274EU a week prior COVID, the maximum the gov gave you would be 274EU. If you got more than 350EU then you were capped at 350EU.

350EU for everyone in the audience was madness

splinter65

1123heavy wrote: »

I used to be a PAYE employee and also did self employment work on the side. My take home was around 4,000EU a month. Since COVID started I have been laid off the PAYE job and my services are not required in the self employed job so I'm down to the 350EU a week payment.

My question is if I were to get a job at say Lidl or Mcdonalds, be it part time or full time, would the 350EU payment stop? My understanding was that anyone who had their income reduced as a result of COVID was entitled, but this thread leaves a different impression on me.

Thanks

No your employment needed to have stopped completely because of covid.

Rules
Employees, self-employed people, students and part-time workers can apply for the COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment. Both EEA and non-EEA workers qualify.

To qualify for the new COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment, you must:

Be aged between 18 and 66
Live in the Republic of Ireland
Have been in employment or self-employment immediately before Friday 13 March 2020. If you work shifts, short time or other atypical work patterns you must have been in employment on or after 6 March 2020.
Have lost your job or be temporarily laid off from work or asked to stay at home from work due to the COVID-19 public health emergency
Be self-employed and your trading income has ceased due to the COVID-19 public health emergency. You do not need to de-register as self-employed to get a payment.
The COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment will be in place until at least 8 June 2020.

If you get a job no more then 3 days out of 7 you can get jobseekers for the other 2 days. For a single person it’s €40 per day so €80 for the week.

Banana Republic 1

RocketRaccoon wrote: »

They should go and work in dunnes or something, that's the usual response to that question. It's pathetic.

How many barristers do you think would do that, are they pathetic for refusing to rut the covid gauntlet for peanuts.

1123heavy

Banana Republic 1 wrote: »

How many barristers do you think would do that, are they pathetic for refusing to rut the covid gauntlet for peanuts.

I think the regular profession should be irrelevant. I have put in applications to work in KFC, Lidl, Tesco ... to name but a few.

The question I ask myself is not what perceived loss of social standing is on the line, rather it's how much money I see in my bank account at the end of each month, that is the bottom line.

The issue with eventually going to work in those places is that I have to earn something considerably more than the 1,400EU a month I am currently on for it to be worthwhile. It costs money to work too, between needing to get myself a car, insure it, tax it, or get myself a bus pass, I'll need to make myself a packed lunch each day, buy myself a new pair of shoes, trousers etc.

So all in all, I need to be earning a good few hundred more than 1,400 to break even with the COVID payment. Then the obvious question is why would you go through all of the hassle to simply break even when you get the COVID 1,400EU for doing literally nothing?

This is the biggest barrier that stops people from going to work in my opinion

Conall Cernach

1123heavy wrote: »

I will never know why the government did not put a limit on the payment, i.e. you will get paid your regular weekly wage up to a limit of 350EU.

If you earned 274EU a week prior COVID, the maximum the gov gave you would be 274EU. If you got more than 350EU then you were capped at 350EU.

350EU for everyone in the audience was madness

I suppose that would have taken a lot of extra work and time to sort out. You'd have to send in a certain amount of recent payslips and they'd have to be checked and a calculation made along with a decision which would have to be allowed to be appealed etc. A normal jobseekers claim can take weeks to sort out but the covid payment was able to be made in a few days due to just being able to confirm that you were working.

Banana Republic 1

tylercheribini wrote: »

As stated in a previous post of mine, I worked as a TCO processing new claims in a dole office, it was an eyeopener to say the least. It took 3 people (on a variety of salaries ranging from basic to outrageously overpaid) to process and award a claim and thats not including the meddling of a lame duck manager and the whole sub-industry of endless form printing. It is an utter falacy that the machinations of the completely dysfunctional DEASP somehow saves the beloved taxpayer money. Three salaries to pay 350 euro, you do the math as they say.

Ive been a TCO five times.

tylercheribini

Banana Republic 1 wrote: »

Ive been a TCO five times.

Jaysus are you a masochist?

cooperguy

At the end of the day it was a blunt instrument brought in quickly to serve a purpose, and it did that well.

If some people got overpaid, then they were low paid people who now have a few extra quid in their pockets and will spend it in the local economy. This will help keep businesses alive.

1123heavy

cooperguy wrote: »

At the end of the day it was a blunt instrument brought in quickly to serve a purpose, and it did that well.

If some people got overpaid, then they were low paid people who now have a few extra quid in their pockets and will spend it in the local economy. This will help keep businesses alive.

Let's hope and that it's not being sent abroad which is often the case with the lower paid jobs