Cancelled Sky Sports because I felt guilty

7sr2z3fely84g5 · 17-08-2011 01:29PM

Gummy Panda wrote: »

How much does the dole take up of the social welfare budget?

sindo did a good breakdown on who gets what-
http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/john-drennan/john-drennan-a-third-of-governments-expenditure-now-goes-on-social-welfare-2829940.html

The overall breakdown of the social welfare expenditure is detailed below.
The percentage figures cited represent either increases and decreases on the 2009 figures.
Total budget: €20.848bn (approximately).

Older people -- €4,614,970,000 (+1 per cent); widows, widowers, one parent families -- €2,570,345,000 (-1.4 per cent);

child benefit -- €2,650,751,000 (-7.9 per cent).
Illness and disability-- €3,469,550,000 (-1 per cent);

employment supports -- €597,095,000 (+31.4 per cent);
job-seekers supports -- €4,094,732,000 (Dole) (+9.5 per cent).
Supplementary welfare allowances -- €950,919,000 (-1.9 per cent); miscellaneous payments -- €1,324,101,000 (+8.4 per cent);

administration -- €575,567,000 (-2.9 per cent).

A more detailed breakdown of the budget reveals an exponential growth in the amount of activities the Department of Social Protection now funds.
These include: deserted wives benefit -- €93,388,000;

deserted wives allowance -- €5,020,000;

one parent family payment -- €1,110,350,000;

family income supplement -- €186,001,000.
Invalidity pension -- €640,007,000;

illness benefit -- €942,386,000;
farm assist -- €110,931,000;

supplementary welfare -- €950,919,000.
Carers' allowance -- €501,822,000;

carers benefit -- €26,305,000;

respite care -- €128,114,000;
household benefits and free travel -- €670,766,000.
The State also paid out €516,861,000 in rent supplements and a further €65,654 in mortgage interest payments to the unemployed.

irish child benefit system,for each child the rate goes up-
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/social_welfare/social_welfare_payments/social_welfare_payments_to_families_and_children/child_benefit.html

Child Benefit monthly rate in 2011:
Child Benefit Monthly rate
One child €140
Two children €280
Three children €447
Four children €624
Five children €801
Six children €978
Seven children €1,155
Eight children €1,332

mackg · 17-08-2011 01:30PM

du Maurier wrote: »

Heh, "Doleys". Sounds cute. The Doleys here. The Doleys over there. Was it only in this thread it became the Doleys? I subscribe to this - we should keep the name.

Didn't a load of them play hurling for offaly back in the day?

Logical Fallacy · 17-08-2011 01:39PM

Anyone else wondering why the OP felt guilty enough to cancel their Sky Sports but not guilty enough to cancel their internet?

Godot. · 17-08-2011 02:01PM

Logical Fallacy wrote: »

Anyone else wondering why the OP felt guilty enough to cancel their Sky Sports but not guilty enough to cancel their internet?

The internet is a very useful accessory to try to find work, obviously.

Logical Fallacy · 17-08-2011 02:16PM

Godot. wrote: »

The internet is a very useful accessory to try to find work, obviously.

Yeah but everyone has the internet, parents, friends, internet cafes etc.

When i was looking for work it took me about 30 minutes every day to check the various sites, send out CV's and check any emails about interview. I'd normally apply for 3 or 4 jobs every morning.

So you have about 23 hours a day of something that you don't really need.

Personally i don't care what you spend your dole money on...you paid your PRSI and are entitled to the dole. I was just wondering.

Godot. · 17-08-2011 02:57PM

Logical Fallacy wrote: »

Yeah but everyone has the internet, parents, friends, internet cafes etc.

When i was looking for work it took me about 30 minutes every day to check the various sites, send out CV's and check any emails about interview. I'd normally apply for 3 or 4 jobs every morning.

So you have about 23 hours a day of something that you don't really need.

Personally i don't care what you spend your dole money on...you paid your PRSI and are entitled to the dole. I was just wondering.

Parents don't have internet, would be a pain asking mates to use their internet every day and I live in a very rural area, no internet cafe around these parts. The local library has internet but just 2 computers (always occupied) and only open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays between 5-8 PM. Basically just for kiddies. The next nearest, I thought may as well just get my own internet as it would come to roughly the same when all the petrol money is added together every working day for a month.

Logical Fallacy · 17-08-2011 03:12PM

Godot. wrote: »

Parents don't have internet, would be a pain asking mates to use their internet every day and I live in a very rural area, no internet cafe around these parts. The local library has internet but just 2 computers (always occupied) and only open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays between 5-8 PM. Basically just for kiddies. The next nearest, I thought may as well just get my own internet as it would come to roughly the same when all the petrol money is added together every working day for a month.

Coola. Deffo the better option.

Toby Take a Bow · 17-08-2011 06:46PM

LyndaMcL wrote: »

Did I? No. Should the social welfare office? Yes.

The dole office should interview people who are in McDonalds? Or people they know are in the Dole but have heard eat in McDonalds?

sollar · 17-08-2011 07:48PM

You shouldn't have time to watch TV at all. You should be out breaking rocks and being whipped if you slow down and the same goes for all the other unemployed wretches... freeloaders

Cantona's Collars · 17-08-2011 08:41PM

Killer Pigeon wrote: »

Free-to-air satellite, it's the way to go.

OP has just got Sky in,they have to keep it for 12 months.Anyhow if the op can afford it then get the Sports channels,cheaper than cigarettes and going to the pub to watch a match.

A lot of guys I know who lost jobs still buy daily newspapers out of habit,Sky works out around the same price every day depending on the package plus Sky Sports News does reviews of the back pages which 99% of guys read first.Anything else newsworthy can be got online.

As an alternative the op simply has to look through the soccer forum for streaming sites;)

One of the best statements I heard in a long time was the woman in Dublin who complained of being fined for no tv license which she "couldn't afford" but she paid her Sky bill every month.

17-08-2011 08:48PM

stevenmu wrote: »

Drinking, smoking and Sky Sports are all luxuries, pretty expensive ones, and IMO the dole should not be high enough to allow for them.

I agree. I mean, where does it stop? I do understand people saying that it's not as if dole recipients should survive on bread and water, obviously, but cigarettes, booze, Sky etc are really expensive. I know people who are working full time and can't afford those things.

Don't forget that the dole comes from a limited pool of money. Every euro spent on the dole is a euro that can't then be spent keeping hospitals open, treating or vaccinating against disease, building schools, or even giving people tax cuts so that they can spend more money and create more jobs.

Exactly. Having generous SW is fine when things are good, but I would find it hard to justify people having plenty to spend on entertainment while other people are dying of cancer because they can't see a specialist or get a scan soon enough. It's not a matter of wanting to punish or deprive people for being 'too lazy' to work - that's a really childish viewpoint, IMO. It's just that the money isn't there to fund this stuff. It's not as if you'd be staring at the four walls if you didn't have Sky Sports - there's plenty to watch online and on basic TV. Most people manage fine without Sky Sports and other expensive pay channels.

cosanostra · 17-08-2011 08:53PM

The Dole is not just to help you feed and clothe yourself it keeps the economy moving, for example if everyone on the dole was prevented from spending any of their money in pubs then just about every pub in Ireland would close overnight resulting in more on the live register so spend your dole on whatever you want!

The worst thing you can do is save it!

markesmith · 17-08-2011 09:09PM

I cancelled my Sky because of Murdoch, NOTW and all that.

www.liveonlinefooty.com ftw - 6 quid every two months.

Buceph · 17-08-2011 09:17PM

I'd be in favour of cutting the dole by five or ten quid and putting that money towards community services for people within a bus route of them.

I was in the social welfare office for the first time a few months ago (****ing horrible place) and there were signs up for allotments. The grow your own fruit and veg type places. A friend whose getting some supplement is looking to get one now. (He teaches part time so it's not the full dole he's getting.) So if that €10 was put towards buying Nama land and letting people have the pasttime of growing something, I'd be all for it. Similarly, put some of it towards a gym for people on the dole and low incomes. People on the dole pay a token euro to use it, people on lower incomes get access on a rate according to their wages. How about a centre doing talks. Not the classes to get trained in skill type stuff, but guest speakers on interesting things that are never in the "hotel receptionist" bollocks offered by Fás. Get a few of our highly paid RTÉ experts on politics and economics and our university lecturers on €100k+ in during the summer down time in to give talks on the state of Ireland, or anything else. Again cheap or free for peope on the dole, slightly higher rates for other people. How many people are availing of government grants to the arts, or the tax exemptions for artists. Get them in to teach people how to be creative. A decent mechanical camera and lenses from the 70s costs about €100 or so quid, film a few euros a roll. Get somewhere with a few darkrooms for people to develop their own film, again free for the dole a few euros for anyone else.

I know things similar to this are already around. The thing is they're general haphazard with different groups working at odds to each other. Have a proper organisation looking over it, and actually build the resources and implement things properly. The girl who had access to a cheap camera and a few rolls of film while she was on the dole, will first of all be kept sane and most importantly active (both important things for eventually getting a job.) But most of she'll get into something that if it catches her, she'll definitely want a job so she can go out and spend a few thousand on the best digital camera and lenses. Same goes for the guy with the allotment, starts off growing a few veg for enjoyment, then he realises he wants a greenhouse to grow tomatoes and stuff during the winter. How's he going to manage that? By becoming determined to get a job.

I know it sounds illogical to spend more on people who are already taking quite a lot from the state (overall, I don't mean individually, they do need that money.) But if you put money into people having something to keep them sane, grounded and most of all occupied, that is definitely going to pay dividends in the long run.

MagicSean · 17-08-2011 09:21PM

Good for you op. Hopefully you're putting your saved money in a savings account for the future.

Cantona's Collars · 17-08-2011 09:22PM

markesmith wrote: »

I cancelled my Sky because of Murdoch, NOTW and all that.

www.liveonlinefooty.com ftw - 6 quid every two months.

Takes moral high ground then subscribes to illegal streaming site.:rolleyes:

Murdoch doesn't actually own Sky.

Mike 1972 · 17-08-2011 09:46PM

zerks wrote: »

One of the best statements I heard in a long time was the woman in Dublin who complained of being fined for no tv license which she "couldn't afford" but she paid her Sky bill every month.

Nothing much wrong with that statement if given the choice she was prepared to forgoe reception of all RTE services and spend the money on $ky.

Personally though I wouldnt pay for either.

FetchTheGin · 17-08-2011 09:49PM

As long as you have enough to live on after then I don't see a problem.

People need to stop blaming people and start blaming the system. If we are in a bad state, it is up to our government to correct it.

Cancelled Sky Sports because I felt guilty

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