Tag Archives: social welfare

THE number of people signing on the live register in Clare increased by over 200 in Clare during November. In October the figure for the county was 4,821, before rising to 5,047 in November. Almost half of those signing on were attached to the Ennis Social Welfare Office, with the figure for the town at 2,490. The number signing on at Ennistymon was 1,242, while it was 765 at Kilrush and 550 at Tulla. Each one of the social welfare offices saw an increase during the month of November. Year on year the number signing on in the county is up by almost 1,200, but much of this is likely to be due to the arrival of large numbers of Ukrainian refugees, rather than any significant dip in economic activity. Clare saw the second largest increase in recipients year on year, with only Kerry, another county that has seen a substantial numbers of refugees arrive, having a larger increase in …

THE number of people signing on the live register in Clare has increased by 17% in June compared to May. Statistics for last month show that there were 4,587 people signing on in Clare, compared to 3,899 in May.  In Ennis there were 2,303 on the live register, up by 289 on May. In Ennistymon there were 923, up from 658 in May. Kilrush saw an increase from 649 to 723, while Tulla went from 578 to 638. The numbers signing on in Clare were 383 higher than June of last year, but the Pandemic Unemployment was still in existence at that stage. Clare has received a substantial number of refugees since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and some of these may have been included in the figures. Commenting on the national figures, Morgan O’Donnell, statistician in the Labour Market Analysis Section, said: “The unadjusted Live Register total for June 2022 was 186,819. When seasonal effects are considered, the seasonally …

THE number of people receiving the Pandemic Unemployment Payment in Clare increased from 7,112 on January 5, to 8,261 on January 12. The number was under 6,000 as recently as December 22. Just 38 people closed the PUP payment to return to work between January 5 and January 12, while another 1963 people were medically certified for receipt of Enhanced Illness Benefit to January 12. In addition there were 4,922 people in Clare signing on the live register in December. Of these more than half, 2,732 were in Ennis. Another 782 were attached to the Kilrush Social Welfare Office, with another 763 at Ennistymon and 645 at Tulla. In a statement this week, the Department of Social Protection said that the number of people receiving the PUP increased over the last week and it is very likely that it will be higher again next week. “This week, the Department of Social Protection has issued weekly payments valued at €118.04 million …

At Kilrush District Court on Tuesday, Judge Patrick Durcan calculated that Mary Maughan receives €55,000 a year on various State benefits. Addressing Ms Maughan, Judge Durcan said, “You receive around €55,000 a year in benefits and if you were paying tax and all of that, you would need an income of €120,000 a year”. In the witness box, Ms Maughan replied, “probably”. Judge Durcan continued, “People are always complaining that the level of social welfare payments are inadequate – that is a political view – and the court cannot comment on something like that otherwise than to note.” Solicitor Tara Godfrey said the payments are required for the care of six children. Ms Maughan receives benefit payments concerning her own four children, along with two other children she is guardian of. Ms Maughan was put forward as a bails person for her brother Darren Maughan (26), who was on remand in prison but required an independent surety for his conditional …

There is good news for people seeking to rent property, who are in receipt of a broad range of State payments. The Government has decided to prohibit discrimination in relation to a tenant or  prospective tenant on the basis that the person is or is not in receipt of a housing assistance payment, rent supplement, or that the person’s income in whole or in part is or is not provided by the State as a social welfare payment. Speaking following the announcement, Minister of State, Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, said, “It is a common practice for advertisements in relation to rental accommodation to say that rent supplement is not accepted. This practice has a harmful effect on persons seeking to rent accommodation and the Government has therefore decided to prohibit such discrimination. The necessary amendments to equality legislation will be made in the context of a Private Members’ Bill, the Employment Equality (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill, which is currently before the …

A wide-ranging survey of civil society organisations published this Thursday indicates that while Budget 2015 may have offered some positive measures for various social groups, it does not go far enough to restore or protect basic rights downgraded over several years of austerity. Despite the increases in welfare rates and payments, organisations working in areas right across society – social welfare, minorities, health, children, LGBT, women, disabled persons, education and older people – saw either no change or a reduction in accessibility to rights from Budget 2015, according to FLAC (Free Legal Advice Centres). The survey was conducted by FLAC and its PILA project on some 39 organisations across all areas of society in the aftermath of Budget 2015. “These results show that groups do recognise that some efforts were bring made by Government, but it is interesting to note that there was no sense of elation or even cautious optimism across the 39 participating bodies. Most felt there was …

THERE were 1,263 people signing on the live register at Tulla last month, according to figures from the Central Statistics Office. Clare has four social welfare offices, with Tulla the only one in the east of the county. According to the CSO figures there were 703 males signing on at Tulla, with 101 of them aged under 25. There was a very slight decrease in the number of men signing on during July, with the number down from 707 in June. The number of men on the live register at Tulla is well down on July 2013 when the figure stood at 810. Also in July of this year there were 560 women on the live register, 59 of them aged under 25. The number of women was up on the June figure, which was 539. However it was less than the figure for July 2013, which was 619. The overall figure of 1,263 in July was lower than the equivalent …