Social welfare spend up 1.5% to €20.8bn last year

Almost 2.2 million people were benefiting from a weekly social welfare payment at the end of 2010, according to the latest data from the Department of Social Protection.

Publishing her department's annual report for 2010 this evening, Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton said over 2 million claims were processed during the year with over 85.3 million payments made.

Minister Burton noted that weekly payments are made to over 1.4 million people as well as payments in respect of a further 190,000 qualified adults and over 494,500 children.

"Supports administered by my Department provide for the complex and multi-faceted needs of people at every stage of life," Minister Burton said.


Read more: http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/social-welfare-spend-up-15-to-208bn-last-year-512380.html#ixzz1SU0qQwlm

€20m scheme has only put eight in jobs

THE Government's €20m jobs initiative has only set up eight internships in its first two weeks of operations, despite advertising hundreds of positions.

The Department of Social Protection has been inundated with applications from businesses and county councils seeking to partake in the scheme. To date, more than 700 internships are on offer on www.jobbridge.ie.

While some of Ireland's top businesses are interested in taking on interns -- companies like Quinn Group, Smurfit Kappa, and Aer Lingus have all signed up to jobbridge -- very few of the country's 400,000 social welfare recipients are applying for positions on the national internship scheme.

To date, only 65 individuals have been selected to participate in the jobbridge scheme. Out of these, only 27 met the criteria to qualify for the scheme. In order to qualify, an individual must be in receipt of Jobseekers' Benefit for at least six months. Only eight individuals have started internships.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/euro20m-scheme-has-only-put-eight-in-jobs-2823683.html

Minister Burton attacks young people on the dole.

Social welfare has become a "lifestyle choice" for many leaving school, a situation which is totally unacceptable and will no longer be tolerated, Social Protection Minister Joan Burton has said.

"What we are getting at the moment is people who come into the system straight after school as a lifestyle choice. This is not acceptable, everyone should be expected to contribute and work," Ms Burton said.

Speaking to the Sunday Independent, Ms Burton said those who failed to cooperate with her department by not taking job or training opportunities would lose up to €44 a week.

Her comments come as savage cuts to services to the poor, schoolchildren, the sick and elderly are among proposals being considered by Public Expenditure Minister Brendan Howlin from his cabinet colleagues.

In what is the first stage of achieving budget cuts of at least €3.6bn, proposals from every cabinet minister presented to Mr Howlin's department in recent days reveal unprecedented cuts to many essential services in health, education and social welfare, which are set to impact most on lower- and medium-income families.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/burton-vows-to-end-dole-lifestyle-choice-2823665.html

Taoiseach vows that there will be no public pay cuts ‘at all costs’

THE GOVERNMENT AND Taoiseach Enda Kenny will avoid cutting public sector pay ‘at all costs’ despite the downgrade in the country’s economic growth forecasts which means even more spending cuts could be needed in the next budget.

A confidential memorandum sent to all government departments states that the government is committed to exploring and prioritising all other avenues of possible cuts before further pay cuts for the public sector workers will be considered, reports the Sunday Independent. Taoiseach vows that there will be no public pay cuts ‘at all costs’ despite growth downgrade · TheJournal

So Who is going to pay for the public service to continue with there golden pensions and salaries? The country is broke and yet it looks like the people who cant afford to pay will be the ones who will.

It looks like the government know that the only people who will protest and cause problems are the public service so why not hurt everyone else who wont protest.

NASA issues warning of solar superstorm 2012 - One Billion could die

Could a superstorm generated by the sun destroy civilization as we know it in 2012?

No less than NASA thinks it's a distinct possibility. In a remarkable move the normally conservative US space agency has taken the extraordinary step of warning the world.


during a solar superstorm most communication will be blasted out of existence; power will fail. Cities will be left without light and water and food will run out. Civil unrest will surge as society collapses in a matter of days. The US federal and state governments will be hard-pressed to restore order amongst 300 million people as mass starvation sets in and sources of fresh water dwindle.

One billion could die

http://www.helium.com/items/2144934-nasa-issues-warning-of-solar-superstorm-2012

If Nasa are warning people then surely the threat should be taken seriously, but how would a small country like Ireland survive? If our power grids are knocked out could we rebuild them? Would we be able to feed and heat the people of the island? Are the Irish government preparing in anyway for a situation like this? Somehow I doubt it.

Ireland 2015

IRISH NEWS HEADLINES 2015

Ireland finally balances its budget!

Fans at Croke Park celebrate.

Irish Highways Agency argue for increased road expenditure.

New National Hospital opened

 

Still no sign of Enda Kenny leaving the Government Bunker

Nama still fails to find buyers for housing estates

€7,065,176: The cost of dumping our outgoing government TDs

THE 42 OUTGOING TDs from Fianna Fáil and the Green Party who tried – and failed – to keep their seats in the Dáil will be comforted with payoffs worth over €7 million between them.

The TDs – 36 of whom were from Fianna Fáil, while all six outgoing Greens also lost their seats – will benefit from a combined first-year payoff of €7,065,176, according to figures compiled by TheJournal.ie.

http://www.thejournal.ie/government-pensions-fianna-fail-green-party-election-ireland-2011-03/