Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
A LETTER TO election candidates and public representatives:
Before you call to my home looking for my vote in the upcoming election campaign, I suggest you read the following situation summary and look through my current personal financials – with a view to proactive empathy (tea, sympathy and lip service will not pay my bills or clear my debts!).
I am asking you to sincerely try and imagine being ‘in my shoes’ and at least make an effort to try to understand how this situation would affect you and your loved ones.
Single parent
I am the lone parent of one 15-year-old transition year student since he was four years old; when I say lone parent, I mean totally alone.
His father lives in the UK. I had to leave him when he came home from work one day and physically attacked me, grabbed me by the throat, threw me to the floor and kicked me several times in front of our child who hid behind the sofa in fear.
This wasn’t the first time he had been physically abusive, which only began after the birth of my child, hence only one child. I made sure it was going to be the last for me and my child’s sake.
My child’s father is the epitome of the Christmas and birthday dad and does not support his child practically, emotionally or financially despite many, many personal and several legal attempts to hold him jointly responsible for his child.
I have absolute responsibility for every aspect of my child’s care, health, education and wellbeing. I have no savings left (used up early into lone parenthood), no property or land (although I am very grateful to have the security of a council house, many lone parents do not even have home security), no pension and certainly no financial security as result of circumstances.
I have been in receipt of One Parent Family support since 2004 and was delighted when I was accepted on to a three year CE scheme in 2005, a position I mistakenly believed would provide an opportunity of permanent paid employment.
From 2010-2011 I successfully completed a FETAC level 5 and went straight on to 3rd level. My maintenance grant was slashed by 60% in 2012/13 when eligibility for the non-adjacent grant changed at the same time as a grant cut.
Back to education
Being a lone parent and studying full-time became much too difficult for me with financial hardship thrown in to mix and I dropped out after 2nd year. It totally shattered my confidence and hopes.
Not one for staying idle, I threw myself into applying for work online and on the phone; cleaning, bar work, customer services, admin/clerical, anything at all that I knew I would be capable of doing.
I printed off CVs and actively visited companies within a 25km radius, introducing myself in a well presented manner and asking to be considered for future vacancies, not one ever responded.
I have made other efforts , which include setting up my own small businesses, taking on temporary positions and working nights in a fast food restaurant.
I got to the first round interview for some jobs. All seemed promising until they requested my PPS nunber and informed me that to avail of government employers’ incentives they can only employ from the live register and One Parent Family recipients are not eligible.
On the dole
My OPF claim will be stopped in March and since I cannot secure employment, I must apply for Jobseekers. I am not confident that these ‘reforms’ will work for me since in another interview, I was reminded that I am up against government employment initiatives favouring younger people on the live register, needless to say I didn’t hear anymore about that job either.
In an effort to modernise my skills, I researched I.T. courses that I might be able to do. The closest facility offering appropriate courses and certification is 26km away, but only provide €17 per week towards the €50 it would cost to attend the required 5 days, rendering another opportunity out of the question.
I am currently learning website creation and social media marketing using free online courses at home.
Advertisement
A few weeks into this study, I enthusiastically applied for Social Media Marketing Administrator CE Scheme that was ideally based from my home and within school hours but I was informed that I’m not eligible for CE for another 12 yearrs as I have already done a CE scheme, despite completing that scheme 7 years ago and basically being back at square one.
Turned down in job interviews
I visited the new local Intreo employment services office in February. The only two job search machines they have were both out of order.
The machines in the social welfare office worked; 15 vacancies were advertised for the whole county. Three were CE schemes, three were internships, some required specific qualifications/experience that I did not have and the rest simply do not pay enough to justify me travelling the distance to them.
So what to do now?
I have no recent or relevant references, a patchy varied CV, no suitable work opportunities within a reasonable radius of home and even if there were vacancies offering the opportunity to modernise and validate my skills/CV and I’m apparently the ‘wrong’ age.
We are experiencing ongoing long term hardship, debts are accumulating weekly and I have sole responsibility for a rapidly growing, hungry teenager about to go into the Leaving Certificate.
My Finances
My current weekly income of €275.40 is calculated as follows:
One Parent Family: €217.80
Fuel Allowance €20: (FA stops 1st week of April)
Child Benefit: €135pm/€33.75 per week
Back to School Clothing & Footwear Allowance: €200 per year/ €3.85 per week.
However, my weekly (no matter how much cutting back I do) outgoing responsibilities should be €440.93, a weekly shortfall of €165.53.
I stand no chance of breaking even anytime soo. This is how debts are accumulating and why Jobridge rates are so unfavourable.
I am thoroughly exhausted from trying to adequately provide everything my child needs on my own. I’m tired of trying to find an adequately paying suitable job, and I am fed up of long term financial hardship inflicted by government cuts.
I feel sick when I have to go to an ATM as usually no cash left or when card is refused when paying for petrol/shopping, I’m scared every time an expense is due, exhausted from the stress of ‘cop dodging’ until I can afford to renew car tax, and tired from continually having to check what cheap food in the ‘going out of date’ shop shelves.
I have to keep saying no to social invitations as I cannot afford it (friends and family do not know/understand my situation and have got so used to or offended by me saying no. I hardly get any invites/visitors anymore).
Fear of unexpected expenses
I’m constantly afraid of unexpected expenses like hospital car parking charges when my child got concussed or needed new school bag when straps broke, afraid of tyre getting punctured or something going wrong with 15 year old car.
If we lived in an urban area with public transport, I would get rid of the car reducing expenses by about €80 per week. The stress is endless but most of all I am very worried about what the future holds for my child and me if we remain trapped in rural Ireland.
I am well and truly sick to my stomach of living like this and you would do well to remember I am not the only voter experiencing hardship.
What would you do in these circumstances with no support or contacts in the right places? I’d really like to know, as maybe I’m missing a trick somewhere along way.
More importantly, what are you actually going to do for me? Will you be proactive as a public representative and source reasonable paying opportunities for me within a reasonable distance from my home with an immediate start?
Or are you just going to repeat more fairytale nonsense about future plans at me while campaigning at my door for election and expect me to give you my vote to keep you in your comfortably paid position?
Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article.
Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.
'Lowry has severe power over this Government’: Threat of further Dáil chaos with no deal reached
Updated
2 hrs ago
15.7k
93
News Fix
Here's What Happened Today: Friday
1 min ago
0
Potomac River
Investigators vow to leave 'no stone unturned' in Washington plane crash probe as 28 bodies recovered
21 hrs ago
90.4k
166
Your Cookies. Your Choice.
Cookies help provide our news service while also enabling the advertising needed to fund this work.
We categorise cookies as Necessary, Performance (used to analyse the site performance) and Targeting (used to target advertising which helps us keep this service free).
We and our 141 partners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting Accept All enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under we and our partners process data to provide. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the Cookie Preferences link on the bottom of the webpage .Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy.
We and our vendors process data for the following purposes:
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
Cookies Preference Centre
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent. You may exercise your right to consent, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. Some vendors may process your data based on their legitimate interests, which does not require your consent. You cannot object to tracking technologies placed to ensure security, prevent fraud, fix errors, or deliver and present advertising and content, and precise geolocation data and active scanning of device characteristics for identification may be used to support this purpose. This exception does not apply to targeted advertising. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework.
Manage Consent Preferences
Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Store and/or access information on a device 96 partners can use this purpose
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 126 partners can use this purpose
Use limited data to select advertising 96 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Create profiles for personalised advertising 72 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Use profiles to select personalised advertising 71 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Create profiles to personalise content 35 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Use profiles to select personalised content 31 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Measure advertising performance 118 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Measure content performance 58 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 69 partners can use this purpose
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Develop and improve services 76 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 36 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 41 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 23 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 78 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 88 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 64 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 46 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 76 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 55 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say