Campaign group attacks dole payments crackdown

A CAMPAIGN group for the unemployed has criticised the crackdown on electronic dole payments as “using a sledgehammer to crack a nut” and contrary to recent government policy.

Social and Family Affairs Minister Mary Hanafin announced yesterday that people signing on the live register from now will have to collect their weekly benefit payment at a post office instead of having it paid automatically to their bank account. The move is being made in an attempt to prevent people from claiming benefits while living and working abroad.

Investigations carried out by the Department of Social and Family Affairs since last September revealed that almost 10% of a sample of 2,048 who were being paid through their bank accounts were found not to be resident in the state when claiming benefits, or claiming too much.