AN UNEMPLOYED Latvian claims he has been offered €3 per week jobseeker’s allowance -and would be too embarrassed to enter his local post office to claim such a miserly sum. “After working and paying tax in Ireland for 10 years, he said it was unfair that his family of four adults is now expected to survive on €870 a month.
“My wife works as a cleaner and earns €380 a week, we still support our two sons who are in college and do not receive a grant”.
Four months after he had unsuccessfully applied for rent allowance to cover the €650 monthly rent on the family home, he was offered a paltry €3 a week from the Department of Social Protection.
He had been on jobseeeker’s allowance for 12 months, receiving €196 per week, but that ran out after 12 months.
“It’s insulting because I never worked illegally or committed any crimes while in Ireland, I have two penalty points”.
His two sons aged 19 and 22, are ineligible for the Limerick County Council education grant, because their parents’ earnings were too high in 2008 and 2009.
“They couldn’t get part-time jobs during the summer… there weren’t any”.
He became unemployed in June 2009, after working as a truck driver for eight years.
“I’m not even going to go to the post office and embarrass myself by signing on for €3”.
He received jobseeker’s allowance until May of this year, when his stamps ran out, he then went to the Department of Social Protection on Dominic Street to apply for rent allowance to ease the pressure on his family.
“I have had to wait for four months for a reply, and then I was offered €3”.
He said that if the TV inspector arrives, he will welcome him in and show him the letter he received.
“At this point, I think my family would be better off if I was in prison so they could survive”.
Depending on a single income means that he does not have money to repair his car, used to travel to job interviews.
“If I get an interview in Dublin, Cork or Galway it means I may have to travel in advance by train and stay for a night… this is something that I can’t afford”.
As a professional driver, he is also concerned that he cannot afford the €70 fee to complete the annual CPS course.
“This is extremely stressful as I came to this country to work and not to get benefits”.
He secured permission to work in Ireland in 2000, four years before the EU opened Eastern European borders and Ireland experienced an influx of migrant workers.
“I understand that Irish people are frustrated by those who arrived in the country worked for a year or two and have claimed benefits since, but I have worked here for 10 years, often doing 70 and 80 hour weeks.
“My first job was in a county Limerick factory, where I worked 52 hour weeks for £220”.
