Meet The Waterford Teenager Who Landed €144 Dole Weeks After Leaving School

IT’S not everyday an 18-year-old leaves school for a social welfare payment guaranteeing them €144 per week, but Mark Jacobs is doing just that.

“I was waiting for three weeks for the social to process my claim, which isn’t bad considering the queues in there,” the son-of-two explains, “They wanted to know everything from me; even the parents’ income. Luckily enough, they’re also out of work since 2008, so I qualified for the full amount of €144. I’m absolutely over the moon”.

Mr. Jacobs is one of the lucky 20% of the 15-25 year old population in Waterford who are currently receiving the payment, which jumps to €188 when they hit the ripe old age of 25.

“Seven more years now and I’ll get a nice raise,” Jacobs pointed out, rubbing his hands like he just won the lottery, “Some lads from my class in school can’t even get €144 per week because their parents are making too much money and they live at home. I’m blessed. I might even apply for a  job the way my luck is going. There’s rumours of job positions in Dublin on the news, which is great to hear, as there hasn’t been anyone hired in Waterford in the past 8 years”.

Waterford city and county have one of the highest rates of unemployment in the country, with one in every four people out of work, which is 7% greater than unemployment rates in Dublin, Cork, Galway and any other town TD’s with pull give a fuck about.

“I’m sure the government is busy recovering Dublin,” Jacobs concluded, “They’ll be around to fix Waterford in another few years… I hope”.