If you knew your neighbour was a dole cheat would you report him/her

deccurley wrote: »

I would, but a lot of people wouldn't. Its seen as a badge of honour of sorts by some to be 'doing the double'. You hear people boasting about it. Sad indictment of the country.

I've always reckoned it is partly inspired by a sort of "sure they all do it" attitude we have. Irish culture respects the cute hoor partly because we want a slice of the extras that the Haugheys, the Berties and all the rest have abused their elected positions to obtain. For decades every level of government, civil service and policing has been endemic with corruption in this country, so it is hardly surprising the man on the street takes a bit of a he who dares wins attitude towards any loophole he feels he can exploit. Tax, welfare, you name it. Italians, Russians, Nigerians, all are from countries with even worse political backhanderism than we have had, and they often have a similar attitude to sticking it to the man that the Irish have.

I would also hazard a guess that with our colonial past scamming the state for a few extra pound is a sort of positive act of resistance that never really died at independence. Far from refusing to accept the Queens money, up the North it is even more of a badge of honour to be scamming the social than it is down south, they see it as sort of compensation

As for reporting, certainly not. The government spunked away billions on unemployment benefits to layabouts (much of it to a certain Irish "ethnic" grouping) at the height of the boom when these people should have been forced into work or left to starve, if some newly unemployed lad is seeking a refund of his misspent tax contributions over those years more power to him.