ali-cat
-
Posts
1,426 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Never
Posts posted by ali-cat
-
-
Here's my thoughts, for what they're worth! If I have missed posts on this tread of a similar nature or picked something up incorrectly, I apologise.
Would it not be better to straight to the EU?
The Government are breaking the ECJ ruling. So rather than individual cases going to tribunal a letter to the appropriate EU department, informing them of how the UK Government is implementing their ruling, could possibly bring about an end to the whole matter. Maybe SOLVIT would consider taking this on instead of contacting them about individual cases.
On other occasions, when the UK or Northern Ireland have not followed EU law to the letter (be it regarding green issues or anything else), warnings have been issued, including the threat of massive fines against the Government, resulting in the immediate & total implementation of the relevant rulings.
As the tribunals are UK based (are they run by the DWP themselves?) surely they are just going to just follow their own advice/judgement & continue along the “party line”?!
-
A Labour Immigration Minister said, on TV yesterday, that the British people would not want an “estimated” 100,000 Gurkhas & their families arriving into the UK. It amazes me how out of touch the Government seem to be on this matter. Like everyone else who has posted here I think it is an absolute disgrace.
One of the solicitors summed it up perfectly after the new rules were announced - "This government should hang their head in shame so low that their forehead should touch their boots".
-
Happy Days!! [:D] The number of times I have asked (in the UK) what the chips are fried in & the owner says, with pride, "only the best beef dripping, love" ..... & my heart sinks!!
-
[quote user="cooperlola"][quote user="ErnieY"]Do you have any idea of the number of people who have just decided to hate you [:P]
[/quote]This is an aspect of him which I have hated from Day 1 (when he weighed pretty much the same) 35 or so years ago. B*st*rd.
Edit : Yes, and I forgot - he also has a (very) full head of hair, none of which is grey - apart from the stuff on his face. At 60 this is truly unfair. He can be very annoying at times....
[/quote]I would like to join the "I hate Coops 2" party!! It's not fair ....... I'm as broad as I'm tall, going grey & have had to use a walking stick since the age of 38!! Some people make me very depressed!! ..... & to think, that I used to think, that he was a nice man, while keeping us updated on your progress, Coops!! [:-))]
As for "O'Leary embossed toilet paper" - would you really want to use it??!! [+o(]
-
Could there be light at the end of the tunnel ....... probably not, but here's hoping.
My claim has, until now, been dealt with solely by the Appeals Service with no guidance from the relevant Civil Service departments & as I posted before I have received numerous letters telling me I had to go to Banbridge for a hearing (Ulster Bus fares reimbursed, of course) which have always been cancelled at the last minute.
Yesterday I received a letter to say that my new appeal date has been set for 20th May as “the Department have now indicated it should be in a position to advise the decision maker dealing with your appeal so far as the Care Component is concerned.”
I'm certainly not holding my breath, but I may have something to report to you all later this month. I know things seem to being dealt with completely differently in Northern Ireland, but hopefully I will hear something, which may give a little glimmer of hope to everyone else.
-
Could this be who you are looking for? I know they are very helpful & have a lot of experience in helping folks settle in etc. [:D]
-
If you don't mind!! We might have visitors arriving who fancy trying them - but as a veggie I can only eat the chips if fried in vegetable oil!!
-
[quote user="valB"]They are an English couple and yes, the chips are real chips, nice big fat ones and not frozen ones. All in all a nice treat.[/quote]
Hate to ask this – but do you know what they fry in? Traditional beef dripping is a big no no, for me.
-
[quote user="Jo"]Have you seen the cost? [:-))][:-))][:-))]
[/quote]Holy Mackerel!! Plus €24 for postage!! [:-))]
-
[quote user="bubbles"]This one seems very detailed. I got it from a weather "geek" http://www.meteociel.fr/getprevi.php?code=24595[/quote]
That is an excellent site!! Look's like we're also in for a thunderstorm tonight - it better not interupt my taping of the GP qualifying!!
-
[quote user="teapot"]
Ali, it's never given me any back trouble............................................................passing it to OH [:-))][Www]
[/quote]
[:D] ........ but as poor Mr Cat has to do virtually everything else around the house I would hate to have to add anything else to his list!!
Plus - he never seems to notice when the floor's filthy!!
This is the little fella I'm after -
http://www.wikio.com/product/polti-vaporetto-pocket-104974.html
-
[quote user="Pierre ZFP"]
I cannot remember what make my cleaner is (definitely not Polti) but it was originally maked as €70 and I bought it when it was reduced to €20. Money well spent (not)[/quote]
Thank you!
I love the look of your mop, teapot - but with my back problems even that looks painful to me.
-
I'm starting to have second thoughts again ..... or would that be third or fourth thoughts!!
The Vaporetto I can get retails for about €90 & is a good make (I think!) - Polti. Would it be rude to ask how much you paid for yours, ZFP, as a comparison? To be able to get it for literally nothing (except cleaning out my card points) I might give it a try.
If it's good Framboise – I'll personally email your OH & demand that he buys you one!! [:)]
-
Thank you!! I think you both may have saved me wasting 5000 points on my Super U card!!
Think I'll look again & see if there is anything else I fancy ..... there's a nice DeLonghi expresso machine I'm getting close to!! [:)]
-
As no-one has answered my query I am going to adjust the phrasing of my post & try to use a different approach.
PLEASE HELP!!! [:-))] (I'm not ashamed to beg!!)
Has anyone got a small steam floor cleaner which they use on tiled floors & if so, is it any good & does anyone know if avoids leaving the chalky looking mop marks all over the floor??
With my back I can barely use a mop so it's not done very often (or very well! [:(]) & I wonder if the small “Nettoyeur Vapeur" I've seen will save me from the usual post-floor-cleaning-agony it causes me.
-
No matter which floor cleaning products I use, I always seem to end up with a white residue over the floor tiles, after mopping – I presume because of the hard water. Does anyone have a “steam mop” for cleaning their floors – do you have to use a special “softened” water & have you found them any good?
I've got enough Super U points to get one from their catalogue & am sorely tempted!!
-
I couldn't be happier about the FIA's decision especially after Ferrari described Ross Brawn as "a person of supreme arrogance" during the hearing. I think they should take a little look at themselves before using insults like that!! [:D]
-
I completely agree with you CK, as I also don't know if there is a connection or not. It should be investigated, which is now happening – I also think that the OP's comments & then Ron's use of the words “a good yarn” are condescending & trivialising what may be a horrific story.
-
[quote user="Bugbear"]
Are they really that clever ?
[/quote]Yes ..... & vindictive!! [:D]
-
The Labour Party want to “spend, spend spend” it's way out of the recession, but the Irish Government want to “save the economy from a downward spiral”. The Irish Budget will be incredibly painful in the short to medium term – but is this a better way to go? When in debt, save instead of spend?
-
[quote user="Ron Avery"]
"As for the second case, the BBC report that allegedly 10 girls out of hundreds that had stayed in one particular children's home (and thousands of others who had been in care in the 1980's), where they were allegedly given large cocktails of tranquillising drugs to control their behaviour, have had children with birth "abnormalities" which are not detailed any further. Of course the odds of this happening anyway and the medical histories of these children is not detailed as it might spoil a good yarn.
[/quote]
So far, into this investigation, 10 girls have come forward who have had children with birth abnormalities. It is not yet know how many others there are. Some of the women involved may not have associated the medication they were given, while in homes, with the problems passed onto their children.
The woman interviewed yesterday has 3 children. Her first child was born with respiratory problems, her second son is blind & has learning difficulties & her daughter was born with a cleft pallet. Hardly "not detailed" & certainly not “a good yarn”.
According to her medical records from the home she was given 10 times the recommended doses of drugs.
-
[quote user="Russethouse"]
It is !
I'm not debating whether the government is right, wrong, red or blue nor if a goverment of any other hue would be different. It isn't a political judgement or comment - because I guess any government in this position would do the same. All I'm saying is why not step back and look at the wider picture and take something other than your own immediate cause into account.
End of
[/quote]
Because that's what this thread is about!!!!!
People sharing their on-going experiences in dealing with their DLA claims. Nothing more, nothing less. Nobody on this particular thread cares who is responsible for the hold up or why there are problems, it's only about keeping each other informed about progress & passing on as much information, to each other, as possible.
-
The (normally) 20 minute journey one day, from one side of Belfast to the other, to see Mr Cat, when we were still “courting”!
4½ hours later, stuck in a series of bomb scares, steam belching out from under the bonnet & wondering if it was possible to sue the IRA for the cost of a replacement radiator.
-
The only brownie points for the government would be to comply fully with the ECJ judgement thereby avoiding the potentially hefty fines that can be imposed for continued non-compliance which would more than likely exceed the cost of benefits to be paid.
Ali cat had the good fortune (sic) to have had her claim dealt with under the appeals procedures rather than treated as a new claim. Under these procedures a never ending series of tribunals has been arranged, cancelled, arranged, cancelled where the attendees, including legally qualified members, were to consider her claim under the current (Northern Ireland) social security legislation which refers to the need to be UK resident. The department's administrative procedures, decision making and appeals procedures must all operate under the current (now illegal) domestic legislation. To comply fully with the ECJ judgement the government must ensure that the relevant legislation (for NI, England and Wales, and Scotland) is amended as with any adminstrative procedures etc flowing from this legislation. I suspect any delays have more to do with this workload than any attempts to avoid potential political embarassment.
EU citizens do of course have the right and ability to bring the UK's continued breach of EU law to the Commission's attention.
Mr Cat
DLA some movement
in Health
Posted
There appear to be two separate issues involved here; the issue of the exportability of DLA and the normally resident rules. Obviously the ECJ ruling has determined that the DLA care component should be exportable. The 26 week rule on normal residency is understandable and prior to the ECJ ruling applied both to fresh claims and to continuing eligibility. The ECJ ruling now means that the residency requirement can apply to fresh claims only.
I would guess that the DWP have taken their own internal legal advice on this and have decided that they have no way of refusing export of DLA for who make fresh claims and subsequently leave the UK or who were in receipt of DLA and left the UK after the date of the ECJ ruling. I would suspect that any fresh claims for DLA from those living abroad now who thought they were previously excluded from claiming DLA, will be refused on these residency grounds.
However, DWP seem to have decided to pull a fast one by interpreting the the ECJ ruling as not applying retrospectively and to treat those who left the UK prior to 2007 as new claimants, hence issuing new claim forms and then invoking the 26 week rule. Personally I believe the European Commission would take a very dim view of this cynical interpretation. The UK has been shown to have mistakenly included DLA in the annex of non exportable benefits to exclude its export under the relevant european directive. Following the ECJ ruling, any 'cut-off date' should relate to the date the relevant directive was to be implemented and not the date of the ECJ ruling. Otherwise, it would be entirely bizarre, if for example, the ECJ case was in response to an individual having their DLA stopped, and the ECJ ruling applied only to future cases and not the present one.
As regards tribunals, from the correspondence that Ali has had, the tribunals appear to operate very much within the existing system and will decide on the basis of the procedures and interpretation of the legislation provided by DWP or the other regional authorities. Therefore if DWP say that the 26 week residency rule applies then this is what the tribunal will decide.
I really believe that this issue needs to be raised outside of the DWP system however if anyone is due to appear before a tribunal in the near future they should make it very clear that they are seeking reinstatement and not making a fresh claim. They have already met any normal residency requirements when the benefit was awarded and the DWP unlawfully removing the benefit in no way requires that they need to meet this requirement again.
Mr Cat