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A FOSTER MOTHER who had her allowance cut when her children with intellectual disabilities turned 18 has received a large backdated payment after she submitted a complaint to the Office of the Ombudsman.
The woman who started caring for the children in 2004 had her allowances reduced when the older child turned 18 in 2012 and the younger child turned 18 in 2014.
For a number of years the woman asked Tusla to restore the full payment as she was providing the same level of care to the children as she had before they turned 18.
Between 2004 and 2012 the woman was in receipt of a Foster Allowance of €352 per week and Domiciliary Care Allowance (DCA) of €90.
The DCA transferred to Disability Allowance when the children were 16 years old. When the children became 18 years old the Foster Allowance payments were reduced to €164.
The foster allowance was further reduced to €112 per week for each foster child when Tusla introduced a standardised allowance for aftercare in July 2015.
In October 2015 Tusla decided that the woman would receive an additional €50 per week for each foster child when it acknowledged that the reductions may present financial hardships for the woman.
The woman sent further requests to Tusla for the full payment and in July 2016 it decided to increase her payment by a further €100 per foster child.
This increase was backdated to when the payment was first increased by €50 in October 2015 but when the woman asked that the increase be backdated to when each child turned 18 Tusla refused her request.
Outcome
When the case was brought to the attention of the Ombudsman Peter Tyndall, his examination showed that:
After examination of the case the Ombudsman asked that the woman’s payment be reviewed
Tusla agreed to backdate the increased weekly payment of €262 from each of her children’s eighteenth birthdays to October 2015.
The woman received a payment of €28,600 from Tusla.
Annual report
The incident was included as a case study in the Office of the Ombudsman’s annual report for 2017, which was launched yesterday.
The Ombudsman deals with complaints from people who feel they have been unfairly treated by certain public bodies – for example, government departments, local authorities and publicly funded third-level education institutions.
This is one of 3,060 complaints the Ombudsman Peter Tyndall received last year.
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I’m on social welfare at the moment with a wife and two kids and when I get paid and all the bills and food shopping is done we have €20 left for the week and before all the haters come out because “IM NOT WORKING AND CLAIMING BENIFITS” which is of a genuine reason! let me tell you it’s extremely hard don’t know what we are supposed to do and that €20 we have spare is a top up for food for the week milk,bread etc.Its very hard going right now to get by.
@i.Have.it.Me.: and when the fuel allowance is stopped we are going to be down €33 so we will have to lessen something by €13 but to be fair we won’t starve as we have a roof over our heads and food,will just have no disposable income,could be alot worse off
@i.Have.it.Me.: I think the purpose of social welfare is to get you by, don’t know what else you’re looking for
@Genera L Consensus: hater number one………….
@Genera L Consensus: I have paid my prsi for years and years just hoped I could have been looked after Abit better bet hey
@i.Have.it.Me.: it’s not hate Buddy and you know that too
@Genera L Consensus: except it’s not. What are ye not seeing.?serious question.
@Genera L Consensus: We live in one of the richest countries in the world. We have billionaires, millioners, we have thousands earning over 100.000 yearly. Why the rise in prices due to the Ukrainian war etc can not be absorbed by the privilege before it hits the people who get by with a welfare payment or live in work poverty?
We all live in this society, the privileged are well sheltered, but the rest of us will be left to deal with growing insecurity, crime and general unrest.
@Genera L Consensus: You do know that pensioners, people with disabilities, and carers are some of those on social welfare. If you think the purpose of social welfare is to “just get by”, you don’t understand its purpose. People pay into it for years with the understanding that should they need it, that it is a safety net so they can continue to live as a part of society(that’s the social bit), not just exist. Barely existing is not getting by.
@i.Have.it.Me.: We all have a group that we feel are malinged. Mine are the working who pay rent, are trying to do the right thing but are sunk under the weight of rent, never having their own roof over their head. I admire their resilience..Hopefully we will get a government that will support this group.
@Carol Oates: yes I do know, OP never explained his situation of why he is on social welfare. And there is a sense of entitlement out there. He has 2 kids, roof over their head and food on the table. I failed to understand what more should he be getting? Holiday to Portugal?
@Genera L Consensus: It is actually none of yours, mine, or anyone else’s why he is on social welfare. A life is what he deserves, not just an existence. I cannot stress enough how the current situation for both people working and people out of work is destroying peoples health because people are existing to pay bills, not living. A sense of not being a burden on society is the very basic of what every human deserves. He didn’t ask for a holiday to Portugal. Only enough to have some semblance of a life in this country which always seems to have plenty for elites and overseas but pittance for those in need here.
@Genera L Consensus: that easy, eh? Food, shelter and anything above that goes to holidays in Portugal.
What about transport to school, doctor appointments, etc. Or after school activities. School fees for trips, etc. What about clothes, shoes, jumpers, trousers, school bags/material, etc. What about unexpected expenses, new washing machine, fridge, cooker, etc if old one stop working. And the normal tears and wear of a house? Paint the walls, change the carpet, replace a mattress, etc. A simple broken blender, toaster or kettle is a struggle to replace for someone with €20 left a week, and cheap stuff are cheap for a reason.
And then he has two children, not two dogs, they need a bit more than food, shelter and a few walks around the park. We can’t complain about antisocial behaviour in youths if we are ok with the thought of children growing up in our society with just food and shelter.
This is really tough reading but it’s no surprise to me. The number of people who went straight on to the PUP and had to seek mortgage forbearance in the early stages of the pandemic raised a red flag as to the true state of the economy.
On one side, we have a cohort of very well paid people working in jobs with very good benefits but for every one of them we have two others working on low wage with no benefits at all and not enough savings to tide them over even for the short term.
What we desperately need is government policy to try and equalise the situation and that doesn’t just mean supports and tax breaks for workers, it also means measures to force greedy SME employers (and there are lots of them here) to pay people better, provide sick pay and treat employees fairly.
I really struggle to understand, given our backdrop, why so many people here are complaining about the proposed enhanced sick pay and auto enrolled pensions thta are being brought in – these are measures that will actually help alleviate poverty issues.
In the interim, price increases on energy supplies should be halted – it’s immoral that corporations should be given the go ahead to raise prices and push people into poverty in order to protect profit margins.
Here’s an idea, if you’re an energy company seeking an approval for price increases, you should only be granted it if you agree to build social housing from your vast annual profits.
@Lee King Buckett: well said. Collective bargaining, private sector unionisation, sick pay, social welfare as a proportion of last salary, etc. These are all things we perform worse on compared to our European counterparts. In some we’re slowly catching up, but more is needed.
I am just unable too continue on I am a diabetic with lots of GP visits but has stopped because I can not afford the charge of 80 euros since I had to give up my job as I was unable to continue due to being tired all the time
@Stasia Morley: Very sorry you’re in this situation, apply now for a medical card , hope things get better for you x.
@Stasia Morley: medical card ?
@Stasia Morley: my son is ty1 diabetic he was diagnosed at age 6 he’s now 21 and all his medical needs have been covered for free and he will always be covered,may I ask how you aren’t?
@Caitríona O’Neill Ashe: Does he still have a Medical Card, my son’s was taken off him at 16.
@Pat Barry: yes he does Pat.
My sympathies to all who are struggling. One commenter respectfully said to another ‘Hang on there buddy’, but I would ask ‘hang on to what?’ What is being provided to allow people work, commute and live reasonably without unreasonable worry, pain and interminable struggle?. I’m not suggesting free money, but moreso a landscape which allows people perform in the expectation of a fair result in the capacity they can. This is any governments responsibility. Where is this landscape?
At some stage this will come knocking on banks doors with people not been able to pay their mortgages which in turn I think another bank crisis again. Its extremely hard out there for people at the moment, fuel, heating, food costs. This is not going to end anytime soon.
As long as the government refuse to regulate, energy companies will keep adding huge bill increases. Prices are going up globally, but the fact that energy companies are raising the standing charges too proves that they 100% are taking advantage of the situation to gouge more money. Greed had this country ruined, along with a government that enables the greedy to fleece the public.
Anyway the whole world is bulls,,,t right now so take it as you want
@i.Have.it.Me.: Hang on in there buddy been there bought the t shirt. Don’t let any negative comments on here bring ye down. Best of luck wishing you all the best.
@i.Have.it.Me.: there is always a commentator or ten who will jump straight to the sponging train of thought. For whatever your personal reasons are for being on government financial aid, I’m sure they are both relative and necessary. Sorry to hear that you are struggling so bad. I’ve been in this situation and worse, and I still fluctuate between just about putting my head above water and going under. MABS is a good start with providing information how to make things easier (if even possible) but you may already have looked into that. I wish you all the best.
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