TD’S ARE OFTEN criticised for not understanding the struggles of people who depend on social welfare payments.

A new documentary will see four politicians spend time with constituents who are surviving on social welfare.

Each TD will experience what it’s like to try to make ends meet, planning a budget for the week, trying to pay bills and keep food on the table, dealing with below-standard housing and trying to cut through the bureaucracy to access Government assistance – all in the hope of getting a better understanding of the issues that their constituents are facing.

Willie O’Dea is one of four TDs taking part in TV3’s series ‘Dáil on the Dole’.

He told TheJournal.ie that he found the experience ‘very valuable’.

It taught me a few thing. Some people think when a family are being put up in a hotel that they’re living in luxury but it’s far from it.

“I was in with a family who had a couple of kids and they were all stuffed into the same room.”

He added that a lot of the time people who are suffering or have come through a rough patch in life can’t access the facilities they need.

“In many cases the facilities are there but they can’t access them, in many cases they need help and advice.”

‘See how TDs work’

The four TDs taking part are:

• Catherine Byrne (Fine Gael – Dublin South Central)
• Willie O’Dea (Fianna Fáil – Limerick City)
• Joanna Tuffy (Labour – Dublin Mid West)
• John Halligan (Independent – Waterford)

Tuffy told TheJournal.ie, “They wanted to provide an authentic picture of how TDs work and the issues that face constituents .

“I think each programme was different in how it panned out. They would find constituents with issues…there would be issues to do with social welfare but it also went broader than that.

“What it is is us working with constituents and many of them are on social welfare.”

First Up 

The first episode sees Fine Gael TD Catherine Byrne meets Laura Spencer, a single mother with two young daughters, living in a not-fit-for-purpose flat in the inner city.

Laura has returned to college and is trying to juggle those demands with the pressures of being a single mum surviving on a social welfare payment.

Byrne said she hopes the series will break down the stereotype of TDs: “We’re human beings. We’re mothers. We’re fathers. We have children. We have lives that we weave in and out of when we’re not doing our public duty.”

‘Dáil on the Dole’ airs this Monday April 20 at 9pm on TV3.

Originally published: 6.07am

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