Young widow (28) falls victim to welfare delay

Lisa Brereton
(28), who lives in Drumfinn Park, Ballyfermot, is the latest Southsider to come
forward to tell their story after the issue was raised by Southside People last
week.

Lisa, the mother
of three school-going children – Callum (9), Alex (7) and Brandon (4) – told of
the desperate financial struggle she faces due to delays in the allocation of
the allowance, which she applied for over two months ago.

She applied to
the Department of Social Protection for the Back to School Allowance for each
of her boys in late June but has yet to receive the payment.

As a result she
is finding it difficult to find the money to buy clothes and books for her
three young children.

Last week,
Southside People highlighted the case of Kevin Kavanagh (60), from Neilstown,
an unemployed grandfather who was also waiting for the allowance for his three
grandchildren, despite also applying for the benefit in June.

It emerged
recently that almost 200,000 applications have been made by families for the
Back to School Allowance.

This is 30,000
more than the Department of Social Protection had budgeted for. The payment can
be worth up to

?¬305 for each child.

The department
is receiving around 1,000 applications a day and has admitted that it is still
trying to process around 40,000 outstanding applications.

Lisa tragically
lost her 36-year-old husband, Darren, last year following a six-year-long
battle with cancer.

She receives a
widow’s pension of just

?¬280 per week, which includes

?¬90 for her three sons.
She is struggling to make ends meet and desperately needs the extra payments of

?¬200 that she would be entitled to for each of her children under the Back to
School Allowance.

“Last year I was
told I would be a priority for the Back to School Allowance but that never
happened,

? she said.

“I had to send in all the application forms again at the
end of June but I still haven’t heard anything back.

“There is
already an outstanding bill for books –

?¬60 for Callum’s and

?¬50 at Brandon’s
and Alex’s school.

“They are
supposed to get a uniform and a tracksuit with a crest on it but all they have
is cheap navy tracksuits that will have to do them until the money comes
through.

?

In addition,
Lisa explained that despite the fact that she acted as a full-time carer for
her sick husband, the Department of Social Protection rejected all the
applications she made for carer’s allowance.

“My husband only
passed away last year,

? she explained.

“What I get doesn’t cover what I pay out
in bills, so it is a bit hard at the moment.

“I was his carer
for six years,

? she added.

“I applied for carer’s allowance I don’t know how
many times and it kept coming back to me that it was declined. Yet I know there
are loads of people out there who are looking after someone in their family and
they are entitled to it.

?

Lisa is
beginning a third level business course this week in an attempt to strengthen
her career prospects. She feels she is entitled to the welfare payments she
currently receives, as she believes she is a genuine case.

“There are so
many people out there who swindle the social welfare system and the people that
really need it often don’t get the help because of them,

? she argued.

She also feels
that she should be entitled to some of the payments that widows and pensioners
over the age of 65 receive.

“I don’t think
it’s fair that I am not getting the same benefits as those widows that are over
65,

? she said.

“They are older and their kids are older. For me it is really
hard because I am so young and I have three kids to provide for.

“The way I see
it, there could be other women out there who are the same age as myself or even
younger who are in the same situation.

?

The Department
of Social Protection said they could not comment on individual cases.