Welfare Tip-Offs

by RedOak Wed Sep 15, 2010 10:26

Based on my own experiences with some but not all of the social welfare\FAS staff I've encountered there does seem to be certain people who set out to make you feel as low as a snakes guts. I've been in the interrogation rooms with the stone faced inquisitors who seem to actually begrudge you the payments that you qualify for. Through squinty eyes they use rapid fire questioning to try and trip you up when the last thing you want to do is be a 'sponger' , given the chance and the availibility of decent sustainable jobs you would take one in a heartbeat. I'm also hearing the stories from family and friends of social welfare officers at Garda checkpoints checking cars for tools , wood shavings etc. , just in case you would dare try to earn a few extra bob on top of the 'scratcher'. Possibly followed by a write up in the local paper for the self righteous pillars of the community to get high off of.

People are also being offered courses which are clearly unsuited to their aptitudes and the career path they actually want. I think non apprecticeship FAS courses are by and large being offered to siphon off people from the live register to mask the true extent of the unemployment situation. I can understand someone who is a long term work dodger being interrogated but the thing is they don't seem to be , it's the recently unemployed being told to find work when it should be quite clear to these people that work is extremely scarce at the moment. I know that there must be decent staff in FAS and the department of social protection as it's now called but Jesus Christ when you run into one of the bad sorts thay can really f**k up your day and probably your near future too. People that have worked hard for years and probably either have never signed on or last did in the eighties are being demeaned and scrutinised and made to feel like wasters. I advised my own brother to report a very aggressive FAS interviewer to their manager but I think he was wary that it could backfire on him.

by Doleboy and Proud Wed Sep 15, 2010 09:49

This kind of thing is truly disgusting, appealing to the worst side of people's nature and turning us all against each other while the rich laugh at us. But remember all this grassing and interrogation system is run by card carrying trade unionists. If the unions were to show the solidarity with the unemployed they boast about they would refuse to take part in this harrassment. They would do their job i.e. facilitate people without jobs in getting what theyre entitled to. Many people working in dole offices do that, let it be said, but the minority of evil bastards who run this harrassment system should be treated like the scabs they are.

by Sceptic - None whatsoever Wed Sep 15, 2010 05:11

As per usual the lads have written about something which is of great concern to US ALL .

''Let me share this with you '' as the yanks would say .

I was a victim of the dreaded green eyed monster of the 80s , i was signing on in my home
town of Bray at the time , i was 'pulled in ' about twice a week by la manager who performed
his usual spanish inquisition with such profound tory like questions about this that n' thother
until i was blue in the face , to be brief i was eventually ' snipped ' and allowed languish in
a flat i had rented as a result of my then situation , i could'nt pay de rent because i had not
got it to give , i couldn't afford to feed myself because i had no money , and so on .

I ended up in Peamount hospital for a period of time because i had been so run down it was
unreal , at least i got 3 square meals a day in peamount and a bed to lie on which is more
than i had in Bray , and no it had nothing to do with drink or drugs it had to do with a mouth
piece who had nothing better to do than to hang me to the authorities who were only too
glad to get a feather in their cap as to catch a person whom they had reason to believe was
working and signing on . when i did eventually leave peamount i was, ( listen to this )
''awarded social welfare '' and continued my treatment in peamount as an out patient for
quite a while , The moral of the story is this , the squealers who are hell bent on venting
their begrudgery on others have a lot to answer for . thanks to peamount hospital for all ur help , i am doing fine now and many thanks for all they done to make the pain ( of hunger )
go away . P.S wait until i write that book .

by V for vendetta Wed Sep 15, 2010 03:28

"Put an Irishman on a spit
and you will find two more
to turn him"
-Swift

That's all we need. The poor turning on each other instead of uniting against their common enemy. The old tools of imperialism still work well. Divide and conquer. People should not be so petty and short sighted as to use these numbers.

Tell me this: Why did we not have a tax dodger helpline before this one arrived. And why is it that all those lucrative loopholes still have not been closed after all this time mr Lenihan??

It's evident what he and his crony government's priorities are and it's clear from this cynical exercise that he does not have the interests of the poor or unemployed at heart.