Time limit for dole?

The Government and their masters don't care if people leave, die of ill health or just kill themselves from despair. In fact if we all did, it would probably just be of assistance to them.

This is nothing to do with clamping down on welfare fraud, and everything to do with repaying high rolling gamblers and bailing out FF's cronies.

bordsie wrote: »

we can't just allow them to continue spending 200e a week on cigarettes and dutch gold. just lock them away with bare essentials

It would still cost more than 200 euro a week to do that.

You can't criminalise not having a job.

You are basically taking a jump from benefits to jail, instead of just advocating stopping their benefits...which would be the more sensible option.

bordsie wrote: »

Send some of them abroad maybe, or just put on a ship and out to sea never to be seen again. i still don't understand why the government don't have them out sweeping the streets, painting walls, picking up shit etc to earn there keep. at least we can feel better about getting up in freezing cold at the crack of dawn in they're out there instead of in enjoying their morning fry, great life they have.

We could brand them or tattoo them for ID purposes too.

gsxr1 wrote: »

I know exactly the type the government are targeting. The dopes who need a kick up the arse. It need to be done. Or they may well become 20 years on the dole and a complete loss to society ..

Things need to happen.

I would agree with that and I think many would but is an arbitrary time limit really the answer?

Personally, I think they have shot themselves in the foot regarding the internship scheme. Companies are just taking the piss and taking advantage of the free labour. I don't blame them really, I blame the system that allows them to do it.

One of my good friends is doing it at the moment and has been for several months. He is going above and beyond for them by the sounds of it and still he doesn't seem convinced they would ever pay him if they could.

The "idea" of the scheme wasn't bad. Allow people to gain experience in a field. Makes sense. But when you have shops getting people in to sweep floors.....it's missing the point completely. They need a better vetting system for the companies that should qualify.

Kirby wrote: »

I would agree with that and I think many would but is an arbitrary time limit really the answer?

Personally, I think they have shot themselves in the foot regarding the internship scheme. Companies are just taking the piss and taking advantage of the free labour. I don't blame them really, I blame the system that allows them to do it.

One of my good friends is doing it at the moment and has been for several months. He is going above and beyond for them by the sounds of it and still he doesn't seem convinced they would ever pay him if they could.

The "idea" of the scheme wasn't bad. Allow people to gain experience in a field. Makes sense. But when you have shops getting people in to sweep floors.....it's missing the point completely. They need a better vetting system for the companies that should qualify.

I agree companies are taking advantage of the internship scheme. I would not call it an internship and I believe that people who are qualified and have experience are the one's getting the internship jobs. Where I live there is about 40 or 50 jobs advertised on the scheme and these companies actually hired and paid a wage there would be at least 100 people off the dole.

The only way people wont be on the dole too long is for employers to stop saying no to potential employees because they are afraid they will if they get a better offer.

In 2005, Ireland's unemployment rate was 4.2% - lower than the UK and even lower than Luxembourg where its small population should make it easier to impact on the figures. The general consensus at the time was that it could be broken down into 2.5% long term unemployed and 1.5% in a state of flux - people who had lost their job and were actively seeking new work or students just finished their degrees/leaving cert. From what I can see, the figure sits around 14.3% now. So what has changed? Have people become more lazy and more willing to earn a relative pittance on the dole? Most likely not. I would argue that the vast majority of the people on the dole right now would bite your hand off if they were offered their old job back. Maybe part of the problem is that people expect a job like their old one and are less likely to take on less heralded work. Even taking this into account, it is hard to get away from the fact that the difference between 2005's figures and today's is the ready availability of jobs. Solutions like this one may force some qualified people into taking so-called menial work, which is fine. But I'm really not certain that it will have any great effect on the number of people collecting the dole until more jobs become available. What these figures prove is that you can come up with as many voter pleasing schemes to get those lazy heathens off the dole but the only sure fire way to get our unemployment rate back to 2005 levels is to get the number of jobs back to what it was. Whether this is possible or not is another matter but I would be spending more time trying to figure out ways to stimulate interest in Ireland as a place to locate/start up a business and re-skilling people who are trained in industries that have dried up than looking for solutions to a problem that did not exist when we actually had jobs. I am not ignoring the fact that we have to look at ways to slash dole costs but solutions like this just seem to ignore the elephant in the room. People are not lazier and are looking for jobs. They just aren't there.

saa wrote: »

I feel like the officers must know which ones are taking the piss but have no power to cut them or threaten them(?). If you've been on the dole for 10 years there must be a reason other than I can't find work and if you can't present that other reason which is valid you should be gone, there has to be some threat loosing it but not aimed at those who are trying, I think I might have a breakdown and not be able to look for jobs if I was constantly counting down the days left on my dole.
I'm not on the dole (yet)...
I'm leaving a 4 year course this summer at the age of 21 so basically I will be on the dole barely able to live on 100 euro a week and then be cut, I haven't be able to get much work experience in retail or hospitality or anything else for that matter it will take me a good bit longer to find work opposed to someone else who has experience going for the same kind of jobs (oh and if you're wondering about my degree during the course the jobs here related to it are gone).

Take anything you can get for the time being. It's way easier to go into an interview in your chosen field saying that you'd been working for the past year whilst trying to get a job you're interested in than saying you'd spent a year on the dole. As you can see from the general attitude towards the dole in this country, people would be way more understanding about your lack of experience. Make sure you exhaust all contacts you have - friends, relatives etc - because the easiest way to get a job at the moment is if you know someone who can get you in somewhere despite a lack of experience. Alternatively, just feck off to Australia like everyone else :pac:

PhlegmyMoses wrote: »

Take anything you can get for the time being. It's way easier to go into an interview in your chosen field saying that you'd been working for the past year whilst trying to get a job you're interested in than saying you'd spent a year on the dole. As you can see from the general attitude towards the dole in this country, people would be way more understanding about your lack of experience. Make sure you exhaust all contacts you have - friends, relatives etc - because the easiest way to get a job at the moment is if you know someone who can get you in somewhere despite a lack of experience. Alternatively, just feck off to Australia like everyone else :pac:

Thats a good idea but you need to meet criteria to get in. If you dont meed the standard criteria the one thing that will get you in there is if you have worked at least 20 hours a week for the last 12 months in an occupation that they want.

A separate point altogether. Some of the comments here about people on the dole are terrible. Like I have said I have relatives who are trying to get a job in their field and jobs that they dont have experience in but CANT get any. Why dont people accept that.

My cousins husband does not get any dole money because his wife's salary is 10 euro over the limit and he has worked and contributed to the public finances for over 20 years or more. Where is the fairness in that.

People are struggling to put food on the table and putting a time limit on the dole and then telling them to feck off is terrible. Its the attitude of employers and their decision to not hire someone because they are over qualified for the job. This is has to change if people are willing to do a job that has no relation to their qualification then they should be hired. We cant reduce unemployment otherwise. Also sending people on training using taxpayers is a waste of time if there are no jobs. They will end up leaving the country and that ain't a good return on the investment made by the government. Its time the Troika told Kenny to cut civil servants pay.

I find it slightly tragic that your signature pushes awareness of things like depression and suicide and yet you feel completely oblivious to the serious consequences unemployment can have on peoples mental health and think "cutting people off after six months" is a good idea.

The mind boggles.