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AFTER RETURNING TO Ireland almost two years ago following a four-and-a-half year stint living and working abroad, I took up a position on the JobBridge scheme to gain experience working in the Irish media sector. Then, six months ago I was offered a job in a marketing agency as a marketing executive.
Everything was running smoothly, I was slowly digging myself out of the financial hole that living on JobBridge supplement for nine months had gotten me into. I was just about breaking even and had drawn up a budget and savings plan that I wanted to start in 2015.
All these plans came screeching to a halt when, just after Christmas, I had to go out on sick leave from work.
I wasn’t entitled to sick pay from my employer or the State
I wasn’t being paid by my employer while out on leave so the next step was to go to the Department of Social Protection with my medical certificates in the hope of receiving some sort of payment. Two weeks after my initial application, I received a letter in the post stating that I would not be paid by the government because I hadn’t paid enough contributions, as I had lived abroad and then was on the JobBridge Scheme.
This came as quite a blow as money was quickly running out and the expenses of daily life – rent, bills etc were starting to catch up on me. Following a meeting with the Social Welfare office, I was advised to seek assistance from the Community Welfare Office.
After a short phone call, I made an appointment for the coming Friday at 9:30am as it was the only time we could agree, and as I needed to gather paperwork which was going to take a few days.
The last place you can turn to for help can’t help you
At the meeting I was told that I would not be paid for the three weeks that I was out of work and would only be paid from the date of the appointment (ie that day). I asked the Community Welfare Officer if there was anything else that could be done since I literally had €20 left in my bank account and no other source of income.
The response was to repeat the same sentence “We can only pay you from the date of this appointment”. The next time they could pay me would be in seven days’ time – four weeks after going out on leave and there was no chance of being back-dated from the start date of my leave.
It’s a strange feeling when you know that the last place you can turn to for help can’t help you. Emotions run riot. I felt angry at the system, ashamed that I had to get to this point in the first place and a complete sense of hopelessness. Before Christmas I had a job and an apartment and now, because of an illness, I could easily be facing homelessness.
With the shake of a Community Welfare Officer’s head I could be homeless
Thankfully I have a fantastic support system of family and friends who are all clubbing together to help me out of this bind. But I can’t help but think what would happen if, like so many others, I didn’t have this support system around me? What if I had no family that I could turn to and no friends that could help? With the shake of a Community Welfare Officer’s head I could be homeless in a week with no source of income, no home, and nowhere to turn.
There are countless charities in this country that are trying their best to help those who have found themselves in similar situations, there are volunteers who give their time and energy to help those who are homeless and countless fundraisers and charity drives have been organised to raise the vital funds needed to help people in this situation (I should know, I was Assistant Project Manager for a huge charity fundraiser for homelessness before Christmas!).
And yet, at the most basic, fundamental level, there is little to no assistance for people who have found themselves in a situation like mine or similar.
I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would end up here but it is very clearly becoming a reality. I never knew how easy it was to become homeless in Ireland until now. I never knew that you could have no money in the bank and no source of income and still be turned away, and I never knew that a mere three weeks could change my life so drastically.
Due to the sensitive nature of this story, the author would prefer to remain anonymous.
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You spend ages waiting on a bus and then 800 come along at once…
@The Alchemist’s Head: Rail seems to be the only way forward for inner city commuting. Its a logistical nightmare trying to set it up but I’d say its well worth it in the long run.
Great news but did I miss where the country has won the lottery recently? Where is all the money coming from? Or is it a case of when you are broke you might as well spend big?
@Bo bo: Interest rates are set at zero or negative by the European Central Bank and they are printing endless amounts of money for capital spending. The EU is providing lots of funds for green initiatives as well. There will never be a better time to do this.
@Bo bo: credit card!!
And where does the recharge power come from? Solar, wind, tidal? No, it would be fossil fuels.
This is window dressing.
@Fred the Muss…: Fossil fuel is being phased out rapidly. Moneypoint and coal will be gone by 2025.
@Fred the Muss…: The thousands getting hosed down by, & / or inhaling, diesel exhaust fumes daily probably won’t agree with that… besides, electric from renewables increasing every year – 15% in 2010, 33% in 2018, 37% in 2019. Compare that to the 15 years Euro 4 to Euro 6′s been around – zero improvements required re: CO2, & as for NOX – well, we all know how manufacturers have been getting around that.
@Fred the Muss…: yes Window Dressing that’s a great way of putting it, how the power is generated (electricity) and all the manufacturing processes especially the batteries the maintenance etcétera, then it has to start somewhere for it to develop
Good news for the environment but I wonder what the lasting impact of COVID on public transport will be. As someone sitting on a bus writing this right now it’s very hard not to view them as giant germ boxes with poor ventilation and inconsiderate fellow passengers. Will everyone who swapped the bus or train for the car over the past few months suddenly rush back after there’s a vaccine? I have my doubts.
@David Law: very simple. Your Leap card is replaced with the microchip you get as part of vaccination. You can’t get in the bus without the microchip.
@David Law: They will if the traffic is appalling.
How is the electricity required for the batteries produced?
@Claude Saulnier: How are the batteries actually produced ? Interesting to see how manufactured and recycled at scale when everyone drives electric
@Wadi:
‘We now have a contractual agreement with our cell manufacturers that they will use only green power to produce our fifth generation battery cells,’ BMW Chief Executive Oliver Zipse said…
https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-bmw-electric-batteries/bmw-to-source-battery-cells-produced-using-renewable-energy-idUKKBN24114R
As for battery recycling, VW’s building a plant for that
https://www.volkswagenag.com/en/news/stories/2019/02/lithium-to-lithium-manganese-to-manganese.html
At what cost?
Don’t suppose any of these buses will be running all week so i can use them for work? or will it just be part time like the rest of them?
This looks like total greenwash as (It’s reported) the buses will still run for about 85% of the time on diesel and all need to be recharged at night at the same time. A much cheaper and better solution would be to buy the sort of modern Trolleybuses that are used in 300 odd cities worldwide. Modern Trolleys have enough battery power to run 50 or 60 Km in town and recharge from the overhead wires while in use. They also have lowered floors like all other modern buses. Also the problems with the poles coming off the wires is largely solved now but most importantly they are POLLUTION FREE.
@mmz: ‘the buses will still run for about 85% of the time on diesel’
Huh? This tender seeks buses with a 300kWh minimum battery. Think you’re confused with the hybrids.
Its a start but they will be refundant in 7/8 years with the batteries depleted and the cost of replacement prohibitive…..why are we once again the last country to look at hydrogen fuel cell technology…we should be following the advances made in Japan, Korea, China and Australia and adopt hydroggen for all HGV goods as well as promoting a whole new indusry for green hydrogen production….
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