Hey apologies if this isn’t the right place.
I did call social welfare this morning to try and get more information and the lady was not impressed by me asking.
Basically, I was made redundant last week. I signed on and got approved for job seekers straight away.
My colleague said I should get redundancy welfare payments. That it’s double the amount of regular job seekers and this is the link they gave me:
https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-41184865.html
She said if I just rang them they would discuss it. But unfortunately the lady on the phone this morning was very unhelpful, said I was entitled and that I should be grateful I even got job seekers.
I got a little upset as it’s been a rough week and ended the phone call.
I would just like to know if this is a thing? Maybe they just never brought it into legislation?
I’m afraid to call for more information now to be honest.
Thanks in advance!
by Bridgetsdow90
27 comments
>I’m afraid to call for more information now to be honest.
id advise calling again and seeing if you talk to a different person
hey, sorry to hear that you’re going through this. chin up and you’ll pull through.
you might want to scan citizens info here: https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/social-welfare/social-welfare-payments/unemployed-people/jobseekers-benefit/
best of luck
Every Intreo employee treats you like your payment is coming out their own wages. Don’t take it personally.
Maybe go down to the Intreo office and talk to someone face to face. I have heard stories of unhelpful people like they are trained to make you feel like shit for asking about what you’re entitled to. Hope it works out
This is the least you deserve for paying and contributing with your taxes. You dealt with a fool who is projecting her own issues onto you. Call again tomorrow and go in with added determination.
I don’t understand the attitude *some* social welfare workers take.
Some of them are the kindest, most helpful people you’ll ever meet and then others seem to let the tiniest bit of power they have go right to the head.
People like this actively work against those they’re supposed to assist and are a stain on the good work of their colleagues in the department
I’m sorry you had this experience. Call back until you get someone who will explain it to you.
That article is from 2023 and the minister stated
“It will be next year because it will require some legislation, I think”
There is no info about this being brought in already, and it only January, i doubt it will be anytime soon if it needs legislation
Sorry to hear this. Unfortunately, there are a few miserable feckers in those places. Also many with empathy so ring again if needed.. youre very much entitled as you have paid for the privelege with your income tax to date!
Your mate may be referring to the following which hasn’t come into effect as yet.
https://www.gov.ie/en/press-release/e6358-cabinet-gives-approval-to-draft-law-for-new-pay-related-jobseekers-benefit/#:~:text=The%20weekly%20rate%20of%20payment,for%20the%20following%203%20months.
https://www.thejournal.ie/jobseekers-payments-cabinet-6227863-Nov2023/
They’re happy enough to keep paying who they’re paying and not add to the list, was made redundant fairly recently and they’ve been hounding me!
I’ve known people that have been on the welfare for decades and getting away with it and when it came to me it was once your credits run out its tough shit.
They’ve given up on people that don’t want to work and pushing people that are recently unemployed to get a job straight away before they get lazy
Its just standard amount at the moment. 258 or something. At end of year they will be making a change 450 for first 3 months, 350 next 3, then 300 for next 3 months. Unfortunately change has not been made yet.
In a similar boat myself.
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Speak to citizens advice to get your full entitlement information, and when you know exactly what you’re entitled to, go into the social welfare office to set it up. They don’t like telling you what you’re entitled to but if you ask for stuff specifically and don’t back down, you’ll get what you’re due. Sometimes they need to be forced to do their jobs in there in my previous experience.
You get arseholes in every walk of life. People like the OP encountered should not be in public facing positions and probably not in the civil service frankly.
I’ve met some really good eggs in SW when I found myself in difficulty and out of work. I remember during the crash having to sign on for the first time and feeling like an an absolute failure heading in, but feeling so much better coming out because of the man who dealt with me there.
I was made redundant late last year and have been on jobseekers since (getting to the last interview stages with a few prospects so fingers crossed it ends soon), and I’ve found almost all social welfare employees I’ve had to talk to so incredibly rude and condescending, they really do treat people as wasters indiscriminately. It’s demoralising.
I’m certain there’s many empathetic lovely people working there but I unfortunately haven’t dealt with them.
Welcome to the world of Antisocial welfare, where you will be treated like a leper, belittled and judged to be a scrounging parasite by staff thst wouldn’t know the meaning of a days work if it bit the on the arse.
My advice. Go to citizens advice for any information you need. Have the print it out and then bring it to the welfare office. You will quite literally be met with staff that either don’t know their job or think any money they give you is coming out of their salary. Expect abysmal service and respect and you won’t be far wrong.
They are the worst people to deal with, call your local td! They will a great help !
Try citizens information
This will only be implemented end of 2024. Will have to go through Dail.
i find they are really good over email. you can get your local offices email address on the welfare.ie page. they have always gotten back to me within a day.
Bizarely they appear not to be trained to deal with people, i got made redundant a few years and had an auld mare goin on like i was a scrounger after working for 7 years, still remember the auld bitch. All the time there was a lady in the next cubicle doing the same, she was being asked to provide income details/p60’s of the people she lived with. She was trying to explain that she lived in rented accommodation, but yer one was still insisting on seeing the p60’s of the other renters, unbelievable stuff.
She probably thought the money was coming out of her own purse. They are always like that. Don’t take it personal!
I was on social welfare for a period a few years back. At one point I was up in Dublin to help my cousin with childcare just as a once off for a couple of days and ended up missing my payment. I went into the intreo office to see if I could sort it out and the lady told me that if I had money to go to Dublin then I didn’t need the payments.
Sorry about your shitty week. I hope things get better for you soon!
Intreo are horrible to deal with. Don’t waste your time on the phone. Just get it over and done with and go into your local office and deal with them that way. It’ll take a few weeks before you get any sort of payment but it’ll be back dated to when you first applied
I’ve been there OP. Twice.
Unfortunately, I think your friend has slightly misguided you because that hasn’t been brought in just yet.
I was made redundant in November and I’m getting €232 a week now..approx a third of what was my take home.
I had a horrible experience when i naively rang in December to enquire as to why I didn’t get the double payment (didn’t qualify) and was literally told that I didn’t need it as much as long term unemployed did.
Like how can someone sitting in an office tell me that 2 weeks before Christmas? Whatever, I don’t qualify for it but don’t tell me how I don’t need it after planning out gifts and meet ups and then losing 2/3 of my income!
Another time I lost my job along with 10 coworkers and two of us went to intreo on Cork Street where everyone treated us with such compassion and warmth.
I’m sorry you got someone who chose to protect today rather than sympathise with you.
I am really sorry that you were treated that way.
You are “entitled” you fucking paid your taxes you have been laid off, fuck her for trying to make you feel bad for seeking the help you are “entitled” to.
Citizens advice are honestly the most helpful.
https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/social-welfare/social-welfare-payments/unemployed-people/jobseekers-benefit/
From this it looklike this has not been implemented yet. You should definitely call citizens advice they also have centres to call into they are very helpful and unlike intreo are there to help you understand your rights rather than administer the systems. My local social welfare office has lovely staff though sometimes it seems like they expect you to know the system as well as them.
Citizens Information are who you ask any social welfare/entitlement questions to not Intreo. Intreo won’t even tell you what you’re entitled to. Citizens Info. are great, free and will tell you everything you need to know.
Nope, from what i know and have experienced even if redundant you clam benefit which is a piece of yohr prsi never given back through tax back and then allowance.
Honestly i was on minimum wage and this happened to me. So it’s fair as the amount paid goes up with your taxes paid and amount worked. Also it is tax back season so i do kind of understand her pov.
You can clqim back emergency USC btw