Hi Mvm. Do you know how much a person on social welfare receives weekly through their social welfare payments and other benefits? I don’t but I would like to know the difference between someone on basic hourly rate working and someone on SW. Thanks.:)

Try welfare.ie…

@martina 188e p/w hense the 9776e yearly,

Conor, I’ve tried that but it’s extremely vague. A lot of people I’ve been in contact with have told me they’re better off on social welfare than working. I’d like to believe this isn’t true but I find it difficult to way up the two sides and maybe someone here may be able to clarify it. Thanks.

I know the €188 part but I believe there is a lot of other benefits that go along with this. Ie rent supplement, electricity allowance, medical card etc. all of which a taxpayer doesn’t receive.

if you hire a long term unemployed person (2 years) you get a double deduction for their wages when computing tax

144 if you are under 25 I know a family of 5 getting 320 a week to support them all , nothing beneficial about being on social welfare !

@bobby plus child benefit of about 400 p/m or 100 p/w…
So its really 320+100 is 420 and I’m sure either wife or husband gets at one day a week @ 80.
500 a week Isin that bad

Martina, i know some people who have turned down work because it isnt worth it. One lives in a rural area and would need to get a car with all its cost to get to work. Throw in lunches and the rest and you are worse than on the dole. Its different for every case tho. I’m sure there are some better off on min wage than the dole.

It is 320 to live off the money try get for their two kids under 18 goes to pay their modest mortgage for their modest house , that is it even the children’s allowance doesn’t cover the mortgage so they have to take more money out of the 320, they have a daughter in oz and one here that is working trying to keep the family afloat while just finishing college and trying to save to leave here and get a job I am very close with this family and you have no idea how much they suffer , empty fridges they never turn on heating in there house only to have a bath or shower, that mother has cried , she and her family have no standard of life just barely living !! I have had enough of people like you ! Both them people worked all their lives paying taxes up until two years ago what gives you the right to attack anyone on social welfare look to the top fool and leave people like this family the hell alone

By the way the way they are getting 260 a month for their two children the same Enda Kenny will get for his

IL take a mortgage for 260 a month..

That only covers three quarters of their mortgage the rest is taken out of their social welfare which is impossible to live off !

Thanks John. :)

Ok for your family of 5 that was described as being only on 320 a week. We have 188 standard jobseekers allowance, plus 124.80 for a qualified adult, with another 29.80 for each qualifying child (5). So initially that brings us to a weekly figure of 461.80, this is 1847.20 cash a month. If the family is living in anywhere in Dublin excluding Fingal they will get a maximum rent allowance of 950 euro a month, this is minus the minimum contribution the family must pay of 35 euro a week out of their social welfare, so this brings us to a total of 1847 + 950 -(35*4) which is 2657 euro monthly in benefits so far. Then we have your fuel, gas, electricity and telephone cash allowances each month which are 20+39.40+37.60+22.60 respectively, added to the total so far this brings us to 2776.60 a month in tangible benefits for this family with 5 children all on social welfare living in Dublin.

Now we have to add on childrens allowance which for 5 children is 670 a month which brings us to a running total of 3446.60 a month. Which is 41359.20 euro a year. This does not include the added advantages and cost savings that you would have by having a medical card for each family member.

In order to have an income of 41360 a year, the father of 5 would have to be earning greater than 58335 a year before tax. So this means that there is no point one parent in the family working unless they earn more than 58335 a year before tax, this does not include the added expenses of working such as running a car or public transport. All these figures came from http://www.welfare.ie.

Not attacking anyone! I live beside a couple with kids and they are struggling on a day to day basis. Stop taking what I’m asking out of context!!!!

And the tax calculations came from taxcalc.eu based on 2013’s tax rates…..

500 a week to keep 3 children? Are you for real?

Children’s allowance is a universal payment. You’ve counted it for unemployed and not for employed

Apologies, the father would have to be earning 39000 Euro a year to be taking home an after tax income of 33351, plus 8070 a year in childrens allowance bringing it up to 41300 approx!

Electricity Allowance? First i’ve heard of that one

VOTE YES FOR JOBS AND STABILITY

small print….
For politicians and bankers alone.

Would you not be entitled to FIS, its worth a look could be a massive help.

The waiting period for fis is in excess of 9 months!! I wouldn’t go banking on that for help. Get in touch with your local TD, your paying his wages make him work for you. We all know they can fix the roads so to speak.

I wasn’t aware waiting times being that long but even still once your application is accepted it will be back dated once you do receive it plus there is the possibility of a GP visit card which takes massive pressure off a family with kids when the smallest illness can wipe out your even merger emergency funds and dip into your bill money.

Very well said. People seem to forget that the majority of people on the dole worked most their lives and contributed willingly. Niw when they need help FG go and slap them in the face by giving them little or no assistance but all the while continue with bondholder payments, their own unvouched expenses and not to forget the breaching if the bankers pay cap.!!! To read the comments on here is truly shocking. Why on earth is it ok for a banker on 250k+ per annum to get a bonus or pay off 100k and a golden pension but not ok for a bit of help to struggling family’s ? It makes me sick, a nation of I’m alright jack’s so the rest of you can get lost. No wonder all the bright, talented, happy, young kids have left, who the hell wants to beg to stay afloat here?

how many of these 88,000 have ended up on the dole ?

Begragy…are you stupid a visa is to leave the country

MVM sorry but a visa is what you give to someone to allow them come here on holiday or work,of course on what country they are from.We don’t operate an ex visa programme.Small piece of advice don’t call anyone stupid especially when your facts are incorrect.

It’s on welfare.ie for those who qualify, if you’re not in you can’t win…

Lots of peoplevare better off on social unless you got a 260e a month mortgage…huh..?

Bobby, even a minority is too much, it’s the families in this country that need the most help! I’d rather the minority take a cut and this money go to helping families who are at this moment worrying about how their going to feed themselves tomorrow. I apologise if I offended you or anyone else during my posts. This was by no means my intention.

Young people need our help too just read there was 2 suicides a day from the 1st to the 6th of January. I have buried 3 friends thanks to felling if hopeless for the future no jobs etc but I think the HUGE salaries and allowance of government and bankers need to be cut before they inflict anymore cuts that is my opinion

The working poor being dragged into demeaning the disabled and vulnerable. The real drain on society is the excessive politicians and their excessive claims for every cent of entitlement. This includes the cronyism of every state department at the middle to high levels.
Perfect example is the latest property tax figures, 85% of ownership in the 1st 5 bands pay much more than the elite 15% of homeowners with half million plus homes/second properties.
It’s not a fair and just system

Bobby, most of us are suffering in some way but you cannot have someone on social welfare,Minority or not living it up while others can’t feed themselves. Not an attack on young people, Not an attack on anyone. It’s the government that’s wrong! Not young people, families, over 25′s etc. the system is wrong and its getting worse.

Martina I am a young person on social welfare I did nothing to end up here I worked for 4 years in college and had no choice, what gives you the right to say that I should be cut( rem I played no part in causing this mess) before politicians salaries get cut, dirty corrupt lying fools who don’t care about you or me and you think I deserve a cut before they do thanks for that how much can you generate if you cut me but how much will you generate if you cap salaries at 100,000 and rid stupid allowance for phones shoes entertaining etc

Martina the only people ‘living it up’ as you so eloquently put it are politicians and bankers! Not the working poor, And certainly not an average family on social security. Open your eyes or do you choose to ignore the blatantly obvious.

Sorry Julie. It’s difficult to make a comment here without upsetting someone. If I was young again id be on the first plane out of here even though I shouldn’t have to. We are losing a generation of talented and educated people to other countries and its so heartbreaking to see. I hope you find a job that reflects your education here. Good luck in the future and appologies if It appeared I was generalising.

I’m the working poor and please don’t take my cements out of context. Please read all my comments before attacking me. As I have said you can’t do right for doing wrong when making a comment here. At no stage did I attack families on social welfare. As I said its not the people on social welfare it’s the system, the vulnerable need to be protected which is the majority and there are some in the minority abusing the system which needs to be addressed.

Public sector lower level are struggling the same as unemployed it top of public sector is rotten with extravagant wages and bonuses ! But yes them figures are fictitious no one I have felt with on welfare get even close to them figures !

@ bobby I did over react earlier I’m just sick of seeing people on social welfare having a better lifestyle than me,I work hard and long hours to keep things going but some have nearly new cars do feck all 7 days a week everything handed to them holiday twice a year..I sympathize with the family you are speaking of as they obviously are in need

I know and families I deal with on social welfare look at then people too in disgust some people can cheat the system and seem to get every benefit going but the majority of people on social welfare are honest decent people who just want to work I know I have dealt with 100s of cases in my spare time , there are people on social welfare in fancy cars and are holidaying once a year in the cases I have seen but many if these people have been on social welfare during boom their cases have not been looked at since and they are still getting the big cheques that were given out during boom ! Lets just try remember there is a lot of fragile people on social welfare jobs gone and receiving just enough to live last thing they need is to be reading nasty comments now let’s turn our attention back to the people who put us in this mess ! No need to apologise this is a tough time for most people bar the fat cat bankers and politicians

Agreed Bobby.

I know plenty of people who work for the public sector and their wages are not that high! Plus takeaway pension, tax, levies, medical insurance etc and the net pay can turn a decent wage into a low income. Yes there’s a lot of public servants on the higher pay scale. Touch th

It not hound lads that have been the majority affected in this recession it is young families, I speak with a lot of families and they are experiencing the hardest times ever grand for a single lad with only himself to support cop on now please 100 s of families on social welfare struggling to eat grow up

Agree totally

Electricity Allowance??

The max rent allowance is 280 a month and it’s practically impossible to qualify without cheating. There’s no electricity allowance that I ever heard of. When I was on the dole I got 188 a week, not a cent more

Yes there is electricity allowance, gas, fuel an telephone allowances, try looking at welfare.ie

Maybe u have a point there about the rent allowance, but that is the minority maybe u missed it but the majority of young people have left our shores they are no burden on our state, families are suffering as for start by cutting young people I think the corrupt politicians of FF FG and labour need to start with there own salaries you can’t justify cutting someone on 188 a week when Enda Kenny I getting paid more than barrack o bama ! Can you ?

Thats a terrible idea, dont know where that number came from but single person doesnt mean no responsibilities at all, what is they have child from previous relationship, or sick family member ??

Rent has not gone down while cost of living is up.

The government should create a better scheme than jobbridge that atleast would be mandatory for both businesses and people on sw, as currently the companies on this are looking for experienced workers for free !!! Lots of people i know have been turned down for experience reasons. Its a joke.

@rob the rent allowance max is already 280pm and very few qualify for it

A 40hr week at minimum wage is 360e which you food/clothes/bills and rent or mortgage..on the dole all expenses paid and 188p/w and free to work aswel

Sorry Martina I may have read the comment wrong but it is constant this divide between social welfare and people working I don’t understand why people are fighting each other instead of looking to the people who caused this who are still getting boom time salaries we are all suffering in some way but some more than others and it is the governments fault there was no governance of the system!

The government do not pay your mortgage if you are unemployed, so a family who obviously had secure jobs etc to get a mortgage who then lost those jobs have to pay the mortgage out of the dole they receive, there is mortgage interest supplement which pays a percentage of the interest only on your mortgage. Fuel allowance ?20 per week is paid for a certain number of weeks a year (decreased in last yrs budget) no phone, tv licence, esb or gas allowance that is part of the seniors care package and not for people on the dole. Yes medical cards are a fantastic benefit to anyone lucky enough to get one, but they are not the automatic entitlement everyone thinks they are. It drives me potty that people assume that life on the dole is cushy I was lucky enough to get a job October 12 months ago but believe me I remember how tough it was.

@mvm you’re living in a fantasy land

Seriously there are hundreds of Jobs available in Dublin for qualified accountants. To become a qualified accountant you need 3 years of valid work experience either in practice or in industry. I somehow doubt your nephew is qualified as why would he need to do an internship with 3 years work experience…. Plus I’m afraid I don’t read populist sound bytes from economists trying to sell the unwashed masses what they want to here.

You sir are 100% correct. When I see someone going down the road with a bucket and a ladder on their bicycle
I feel like taking a photo and uploading it to this site. (After shaking there hand, of course)

Every business in this country was started by someone at some point. Someone who got up off there arse. Fact.

Yes atleast 90, why not make it a hundred?? In fact lets just create camps for people without jobs and get rid of all of them. Sounds fair, eh ?
Silly comment to make. You and bucket of water

There are No jobs over 100,000 people have left our shores, oh but that had nothing to do with jobs, that is a vile comment you are making, there are no jobs available to people or have you missed the whole recession that we have been inflicted with for the last 4 years . How dare you people don’t want to be on social welfare but they don’t have a choice where are all these jobs we were promised by your government!

Plenty of IT jobs but that’s all. People who are barely able to feed themselves with what money do you expect them to create jobs, in this country you need money to do everything .

Bobby, there are other jobs other than IT. My company have been trying to fill part time positions since even before Christmas. It’s in retail and their finding it very difficult to find people to work 2 or 3 full days per week.

Then u need to make that clear because from what I can see people on social welfare are being generalised there are a small number who live off system all their lives but the majority have been forced to turn to system! So just cut it out it is degrading and people who have been forced onto social welfare are sick of hearing how life is so easy and you get all these benefits do you have any idea the amount of things you need to qualify for any of these benefits it is very hard to receive any of them. People who have been on social welfare all their live were a problem to be dealt with during the boom but we had a government that partied all the time and let the banks do what the please brown envelopes Galway tents that lot need tone held accountable before anyone on social welfare should be targeted for more cuts!

During the boom I know of many long term unemployed called in and transfered to sick benefit to help massage the figures, there are people who will work and even if they are better off on the dole and those who will never work just the nature of the beast, we all know some who claimed all their lives and worked too. I feel terribly sorry for anyone who has worked all their life and are being laid off now for the first time ever and being told they are only entitled to minimum benefits.

I just rang that mother she is getting 380 a week she gets 130 her husband gets 210 on disability because he is deaf which he keeps getting cut and is now down to 190 , quite cuts that no one is hearing about as for allowances for phone gas electricity etc they have no such thing and very few I deal with on social welfare have received these allowances they have 5 living in the house two adults and two kids under 18 , you may have all these figures but they do not apply to any of the real cases I volunteer to help everyday. I am on the ground dealing with real people not a government website listing figures. No it is not ment to be a luxury I know this but who’s fault is it , the people that our taxes are paying huge salaries to politician who it is clear aren’t doing their job ! No I can’t agree to anymore cuts until the people at the top take cut ! That is one thing I heard from that mother she wouldn’t mind struggling through this recession if their was people being held accountable and extravagant salaries being cut not another advisor getting a prop up of 17000

Why don’t you use the facts and figures from a government website and make sure that they are receiving everything they are entitled to, with 2 kids under 18 in the house, a husband on disability and 1 dependent adult they should be on 188+124.80+ (29.80*2) which is 372.40. Then we have the allowances they should qualify for, plus children’s allowance plus mortgage interest support. Don’t give out to me for listing facts and figures go make sure they receive everything they are entitled to.

Because a website doesn’t give you all the restrictions that are there to stop people being entitled to these allowances , I have explained what this family are on with regard to welfare payments they just about qualifies for fuel allowance and they are not entitled to any other allowances. So maybe instead of looking at website talk to people who are in the system and they will give you the true facts of how this system operates for people who were forced on it due to recession !

Bobby night I ask the question (without being attacked please) but what exactly are this family doing to get themselves off of welfare? You mentioned that the father is dead? Being deaf does not render you incapable of working. Why are the father and mother not trying to upskill by taking on (free) courses. Why are they not doing community employment to get them back in the job market. Why not even a job bridge internship?

Do you honestly think they have say around doing nothin they have done numerous course, mother even paid for computer course out of her own pocket. I have seen the few letters of rejection for job ap, which some have the decency to send. Husband did security course has been rejected from many jobs because he can’t pass medical because he wears hearing aids. Both she in her late 40 s he 50+ so age cumin against them also. In fact are thinking now of emigrating not in negative equity that the thanks for working and paying taxes since they were teenagers, get on a plane and get out of ere. By the way my nephew a qualified accountant was recently left go from an internship and is back on welfare. Plus I have not attacked anyone if you call telling the truth attacking someone then yes that is what I have done .

I find it hard to believe that your nephew is finding it hard to find work, if he is then he probably has not looked in Dublin yet. Plus it’s illegal to be discriminated in a job because he is deaf. And also why did she pay for a computer course when it’s free to go back and do a degree or take part in the springboard scheme?

conor , these people have tried anything within their means to get jobs they have not been sucessful. yes she did a computer course and paid for it herself she had just left her job wasnt totally broke so instead of getting welfare to pay it she payed for it herself. something wrong with that? As for all these people writing about the few jobs they cant fill, where are these jobs located? they would love to be doing loads of courses but it costs them too much with petrol as they live 10 miles from the nearest town. these people just cant draw anymore expenses on themselves and you talk about them upskilling, ok they have just put their two daughters through college that is an expense and what has happened their daughters, COULDNT get work here so had to move away. do you know how many people with accounting qualifications are out there looking for work, for every job he applies for there are hundreds more applying for the same job. maybe ye need to educate youselves a bit more, i listen to economists that know what they are talking about and as for jobs according to these guys who are experts, loads of jobs in IT sector and no jobs being created in other areas.

constatineG, top economist said this on frontline that there has been improvments in the IT area and jobs created but other sectors have been forgotten.

these people are in a disasterous situation they have tried everything to get out of it, their last resort which they are looking into now is packing up and leaving this country.

Why are there red thumbs for telling people that there are jobs out there?