Bray Social Welfare Offices closed due to weather

Bray social welfare claimants expecting to 'sign-on' today were  met by closed doors at the local Social Welfare Office. A sign posted on the door stated that due to adverse weather conditions the offices were shut. By Christina Finn

Those who  traveled through the hazardous conditions to sign on today expressed frustration and anger that while they had managed to get to the office, that the staff had not. One social welfare claimant said that it was "ridiculous". "People have traveled in to the offices and no one has tried to contact people to inform them that their time would be wasted if they came in."

The office recently displayed signs that failure by claimants to 'sign-on' during designated days were being policed; should a claimant fail to turn up more than once, there would be consequences.

One woman said: "I get texts when I have a dentist, hairdresser or beauty appointment or when it is cancelled, so why can the offices not adopt, what seems to be a relatively straightforward system. The main roads are not even that bad here in Bray."

Recently, civil servant privilege days which are believed to cost taxpayers up to €12m a year were defended by most unions representing staff in the civil service. The Unions, at a meeting in the Department of Finance said they opposed moves by the Government to abolish privilege days which are traditionally taken by civil servants at Christmas and Easter. 

Bray Social Welfare office phoneline did not answer calls when Politico attempted to contact them. There is no contact email address for people to voice their concerns.