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More than 5,000 readers have already pitched in to keep free access to The Journal.
For the price of one cup of coffee each week you can help keep paywalls away.
Kileni, who fled South Africa after the murder of her husband and suffered Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, waited over a year for the payment awarded to her.
Many unemployed people struggle with accessing the correct information on what they are (or are not) entitled to – and the problem is compounded by misinformation and misdirection within the system, writes Brid O’Brien.
Roisín Shorthall says that if the State was to be reimbursed by insurers for welfare payments taken out while people are injured and claim welfare, they could save millions.
The only way to ensure the long-term prosperity of our retirees without burdening our children with unfair taxes is to create a state-backed – rather than entirely state funded – pension system that is means tested, writes Aaron McKenna.
The petition was set up to challenge Iain Duncan Smith to prove that he would be able to survive on benefits.
The CSO report said that the decline in employment activity for foreign nationals has not resulted in a corresponding increase in social welfare activity.
The Minister for Social Protection said that without welfare payment, “millions of families across the EU would literally be left with nothing”.
The percentage of households where adults are not working has grown from 15 per cent to 22 per cent in just three years.
A father-of-three from Carlow shares his story with TheJournal.ie.
The committee heard from the Self Employed Alliance Dundalk who said there has been “unjust, unwarranted discrimination” against self-employed people.
A so-called “two tier” child benefit system, recommended by an advisory group to the Social Protection Minister, would see child benefit payments cut to about €100 per month.
The Minister noted a surge in applications for disability allowance, but denied any changes in criteria or conditions.
Cuts to rent supplement are forcing people to make impossible choices, writes Bob Jordan of Threshold.
The Minister for Social Protection has published two reports detailing work undertaken by her Department in 2011.
The IMF has suggested that the universal payment could be means-tested to save money. What do you think?
It’s not news that some benefits are spent on alcohol, writes Aaron McKenna. Time for a simple change to the system.
The bank is still struggling to clear a backlog of payments.
Shane McEntee’s suggestion that young people shouldn’t get welfare unless they join a work scheme has been labelled “hypocritical” by a youth group.
However, the costs fall dramatically as children grow older and begin school.
The economic think-tank has revised the findings from a controversial working paper which it pulled earlier this week.
Are economists better placed than psychologists to explain why people go to work? Nat O’Connor looks at the controversial ESRI working paper.
The Department of Social Protection has been cracking down on the number of prisoners who claim social welfare benefits while in jail.
Paying rich and poor alike might sound counter-intuitive – but it could lay the foundation for a welfare system that works, writes Anne B Ryan.
The Public Services Card will include facial imaging software to help detect and prevent welfare fraud. What else do we know about this new ID card?
Welfare fraud inspectors will be deployed to all entry and exit points to the country.
Members of the public are being asked for their opinions on the proposed new national standards, which are for the protection and welfare of children in Ireland.
As benefits for the most vulnerable are cut, our system throws money at others who don’t need it, writes Aaron McKenna.
Has Joan Burton kept the government’s promises of reversing cuts while keeping all baseline social welfare rates unchanged?
The funds we’re currently spending on make-work training programmes should be handed directly to unemployed people, writes Aaron McKenna.
A report being launched today highlights the difficulties of those in receipt of jobseeker’s benefit who do not have enough to meet their physical, psychological, spiritual and social needs.
The new system aims to reduce long-term unemployment – and penalise people who refuse work or training.
The expansion of the list of state-recognised disability categories to include paedophiles, kleptomaniacs and sadomasochists has concerned disability groups in Greece.
The VAT increase, the Household Charge, cigarettes and alcohol – get all of the main points of Budget 2012 in two rather nifty infographics.
Social welfare spending has to be cut in order to balance the budget – but we can still protect the most vulnerable, says Joan Burton, Minister for Social Protection.
Figures put together by the Department of Social Protection show reveal how much a family of six on social welfare could receive in a year.
The initiative could save the State €625 million by next year, and has already seen some people’s payments stopped.