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Likely redundancy in January, how can I survive off €208 JB a week with 1200 monthly rent?

machaseh

Hi all

I am a foreign (EU) national living in Ireland for 5 years -> this qualifies as Habitual Residence and I would qualify for Jobseekers Benefit given my PRSI contributions.

Having no dependents I am allowed 208 a week of JB maximum.

Now I live in Dublin City. I have a rent of €1200 a month, so that means my JB would be lower than my monthly rent. How am I supposed to survive then once I get inevitably made redundant in January? Not to mention that most people also eat food in order to survive and pay bills as well. A cheaper rent in Dublin is not possible, in fact my rent is already well below market-value.

Moving rural is also not an option because I do not drive and I also do not have any friends in Rural Ireland, as I am a foreign national.

Given the state of the company, reorganizations and lay offs it is very likely that in January I will officially get the notice of redundancy. Obviously I understand that I can eventually find a new job, but odds are that more companies will have hiring freezes given that we are entering a recession, this question is assuming that finding a new job will take a lot of time.

So how am I supposed to survive once this happens? Are there other state benefits I would be entitled to? Or would I only be entitled to this amount which is lower than my rent? In that case where would I get the money from to pay the rest of the rent? Is there a legal way to obtain the rest of the money?

Thanks in advance.

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Esse85

OP do you work from home?

TooTired123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119924455#Comment_119924455

What you should do is present yourself at the SW office on your first day of unemployment and tell them that you want to apply for Jobseekers, but that you actually want it to be paid at the rate of 70% of your current salary, as that’s what the rate is in the Netherlands. They’ll probably point out that this is Ireland, not the Netherlands but you can respond that it’s too hard to move to the Netherlands.

Let us know how you get on.

tom1ie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058273370/likely-redundancy-in-january-how-can-i-survive-off-208-jb-a-week-with-1200-monthly-rent

op- have you considered a house share?

for example a double bedroom in Templeogue area for €500 pm? Cuts your rent by €700.

There are also cheaper house shares on daft.ie.

[Deleted User]

Well, the answer and supports you are entitled to are obvious. You simply need to… wait, you’re a foreigner? HUMPFFF as a card carrying racist I can’t be offering help to the likes of you!

machaseh

As for Galway or cork even there the rent is expensive. It might be a couple hundred less than here but still more than the jibseeker benefits

Although Galway people are the njcest in Ireland. Nicer than dubliners . Not as nice as the Dutch of course.

[Deleted User]

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119924446#Comment_119924446

At first I was sympathetic to your plight, but quite honestly, your comments have become quite offensive and racist in their own right..

If you dislike Ireland, and the Irish people so much, maybe it is time for you to consider relocating back to your country of origin or some other EU country. What is there to keep you here? There is a recession coming and the situation in Ireland is is not going to improve, anytime soon. If anything, it will get worse.

Ireland is not all bad. You will be supported here, but benefits are not meant to equal your working income. If you have visual impairment that qualifies you as blind, you can also make an application for a Blind Pension which comes with other secondary benefits, such as a free travel pass. You may qualify for this as well as JB.

So you know, as the saying goes - don't bite the hand that will be feeding you.

By the way, I have two cousins who grew up in Utrecht, (dutch mother, irish father) and moved here in their 20s after their mother died, both now in their 30s and living full time in Kilkenny, and love it there.

machaseh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119923586#Comment_119923586

This is one of the few helpful posts here thank you.

It says that rent supplement is not paid if your rent is over a certain limit but it does not state what that limit is. So wether I apply for that i am unsure.

corner of hells

"And the people here in Ireland generally are quite racist as we see in this thread as well. Hence i prefer to live in the city where the other foreigners are . I don't have any Irish friends at all. Don't like them".

There really is no reply to this type of comment.

machaseh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119923596#Comment_119923596

There's nowhere in Dublin cheaper to rent though. Except for a council estate which i don't quality for. My rent is already below market rate.

machaseh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119923617#Comment_119923617

But you can drive. I can't drive i have a visual disability.

If I'd live in the back arse of Donegal I'd be stuck there. I couldn't do groceries even or go to a local pub.

And the people here in Ireland generally are quite racist as we see in this thread as well. Hence i prefer to live in the city where the other foreigners are . I don't have any Irish friends at all. Don't like them

TooTired123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119923375#Comment_119923375

You don’t live in the Netherlands. It’s pointless talking about the Netherlands.

SweetSand

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119922503#Comment_119922503

OMG, are you for real? As a foreigner myself, who ended up in a very rural part of Connemara in 2001, where there was nothing around, and I came from a 2million city and it was a shock. Everything you are talking about is a BS - you are an adult, you have time to find another job, you can move, you don’t need to rely on SB, and yes, you can pass driving test in Ireland, which I did after having passed driving test in my country, and I had to do it again after moving to another country. It really makes me mad to hear about “rural Irish” being not kind. Yes, there was a learning curve to understand each other but in all honesty there was so many kind people I met and learned so much about Irish history and culture, at the end I felt honoured to be a part and enjoy the craic with so many locals. Ireland is too generous with all the benefits full stop. Hate seeing people taking advantage of it. If you were in US - there would be no redundancy and no payments afterwards.

GSBellew

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119922230#Comment_119922230

Then go pull pint's like many of us have at points in time to make ends meet, you worry that you won't earn as much, well won't it be more than if you don't bother doing it?

As for your rent, well you are lucky in that you have the freedom to move to somewhere cheaper to rent, might be inconvenient but it's better than it'd be if you had a mortgage.

[Deleted User]

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119923375#Comment_119923375

There is zero point in arguing about what is the standard in the Netherlands. You don't live in the Netherlands.

You will qualify for Jobseekers Benefit @ €220 per week (from January 2023) for 9 months based on contributions, and you can make an application for Rent Supplement.

In the interim, best brush off the CV and start looking around.

CramCycle

Start looking for a job now. Don't wait for what you know is coming. Regrettably all the talk in the world isn't going to change anything. 208 a month won't pay your rent, maybe there is assistance available but your landlord must accept it and you must get it signed off and that's simply not happening. Also don't discount the rest of Ireland , start looking at other major cities and towns for work and rent .

machaseh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119922546#Comment_119922546

This is standard in the Netherlands though and all Statistics show that Ireland is at least as developed. It's not like we are living in Burkina Faso.

machaseh

It's easy to tell people to go back where they came from. But unfortunately it's not always that easy to do in practice

Button_y

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119922503#Comment_119922503

Wow! reread what you wrote and see the racism in your post against rural Ireland!

On your original question no you probably can't maintain your lifestyle on the benefits available you need to find a job or change your lifestyle to match the available benefits. You are lucky you have lead time to prepare

Tork

Why not go back to where you came from? You don't seem to like Ireland very much and you've not saved much money by working and living in Dublin.

[Deleted User]

Won't the OP qualify for HAP?

AMKC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119922480#Comment_119922480

That's the wrong attitude to have for a start. You will never accomplish anything if you are always negative.

I take it you have a sight imperfect maybe reduced visibility or no sight in one eye. I to am like that and for years I let it stop me from driving I used it as am excuse and well I did not need to drive because someone else was always doing the driving at work so that was good with me. That was untill this year when I said not anymore and done a bit then realised hey this is not as bad or as hard as I thought it might be. It was confidence as well do or well lack of it. I just did not have any but it has all come back to me this year.

You have to remain positive. You will not get anywhere in this world being negative.

Start looking for jobs now and if you do get layed off at least then you will have options.

RurtBeynolds

You should quite easily be able to find another job in the next two months.

TooTired123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119922503#Comment_119922503

All in all you appear to be very unhappy with Ireland. That’s a pity. There’s no point in going back and forth about it. €208 is it right now it will be €220 in January. The important thing is that you know that now and you can put a plan together to have a job to go to when this one ends. Best of luck.

mikemac2

Ah Ireland is not the place I am 😄

best of luck OP. I hope you get help and not judgement

TooTired123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119922521#Comment_119922521

People work for 40 years straight and they get €208. If you want to get JB at a rate of 70% of your salary then Ireland is not the place to be.

mikemac2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119922272#Comment_119922272

A tad harsh

And in some countries in Europe you can get 70% or more of your salary in unemployment benefit for 12 months.

“Where on earth?”. The OP worked for 7 years straight.

Maybe the OP will get a job straight away but hiring slows down this time of year with Christmas and budgets. Apply for a well paying permanent job today and with interviews and background checks 2 months would be considered fast

machaseh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119922272#Comment_119922272

I can't move down the country because I don't drive. Also the local rural Irish population would not take kindly to a foreigner. They would be very racist. I've already experienced that they kick me out of the pub for being a foreigner and that was even in Dublin.

You need to understand that living in Rural Ireland is not really feasible for foreigners who don't drive.

machaseh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119922282#Comment_119922282

I have a flatmate so my real rent costs are slightly lower. There's no spare room left for a number 3.

machaseh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119922231#Comment_119922231

No I could not learn to drive. First of all it costs a lot of money, second of all the waiting times are long, third of all a car is very expensive for a foreign national (insurance), fourth of all I happen to have a medical disability that does not make driving safe for me. I would not want to hit your child on the road because I couldn't see her due to my medical disability.

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119922230#Comment_119922230

Even with the reduction in hiring / layoffs, in most tech roles people who can start quickly have their arms bitten off by recruiters.

Spend as little as you can, save as much as you can and start scoping out roles even before you know for sure you're getting the axe (but wait to be told, so you get the redundancy)