Jobless angry over jail threat notices

RECIPIENTS of social welfare benefits have been angered by notices placed by the Department of Social Protection at dole offices on the Southside threatening jail terms for those successfully prosecuted for fraud.

Garrett Ronan from Tallaght is a tiler by profession, who has been unemployed since 2009, and is currently claiming Jobseekers’ Benefit at Tallaght social welfare office.

Mr Ronan said that he and scores of other welfare recipients had been angered by the notices that include the text of a headline published recently in a well-known tabloid newspaper.

The article in question highlighted the case of a convicted welfare fraudster who received a 12-month jail sentence.

Mr Ronan said that after he first saw the notices he travelled to a number of other dole offices in the area, including Clondalkin and Ballyfermot, and discovered they had also been displayed there.

He said they made him and other welfare claimants feel like

“second-class citizens and criminals

?.

“I don’t see why, just because you are unemployed, that you should have to stand in a queue and have to look at these notices, which are everywhere,

? he said.

“This sends out a message that we are all second-class citizens and a bunch of crooks.

“Other people I spoke to said they were sick and tired of going down to the dole office with these notices in their face threatening jail.

“When you become unemployed you are forced into a situation that you weren’t in before and through no fault of your own. Most people on the dole have been working their whole lives and contributed taxes.

?

Mr Ronan believes it is

“ridiculous

? that the Government is planning to strengthen the powers of inspectors investigating welfare fraud while at the same time the State has amassed massive debts.

Deputy Sean Crowe (SF) has received a number of complaints about the notices from constituents who had used the social welfare office in Tallaght.

“They have expressed justifiable anger at the display of these notices,

? he said.

“These types of notices do nothing for the self-esteem of social welfare applicants and create an unwelcome and adversarial atmosphere in offices.

“The facts are that the vast majority of people who find themselves in the unenviable position of having to avail of State assistance are law abiding, honest citizens,

? he added.

A spokesperson for the Department of Social Protection said the notice brings its prosecutions policy to the attention of the public.

He said that to highlight the issue, the notices made reference to a publicised case where a penalty was imposed by a court following a conviction arising from abuse of the social welfare system.

“The department knows that the majority of its customers are compliant with the conditions for receipt of social welfare,

? the spokesperson said.

“Social welfare fraud is not a victimless crime. The notice is intended to advise any persons who are engaging in or considering engaging in abuse of the social welfare system of the serious consequences of being prosecuted and found guilty by the courts of doing so.

?