Complex situation help needed.

This is a tricky one so bear with me, basically I had a LTD company which went into liquidation in Oct 08. Since then I have had a total of only 1200 euro of work in my own name as a sole trader,ie 35% was deducted from this figure under my PPS no. My wife works about 22hrs per week average just minimum wage 8.65 PH. Since sept of this year I have drawn money from my bank account which amounted to about 15k which was made up from a couple of sources. For instance my family have been helping me pay my mortgage which is 1700pm. Also had taken wages from my company before I finally decided to liquidate although tax was not paid on this, as of today I have 3k between me and potential oblivion! Today I finally went to my local SWO who were extremely helpful and they gave me a plethora of formage to get a claim for JA in motion. I explained to the lady that I have been looking for work and have only managed a small amount as outlined above,she asked me would I be available for full time work to which I replied yes. She asked me what type of work I would be available for to which I replied LITERALLY ANYTHING ! as I am really going stir crazy around the house. I am sorry if this is a rambling post but I am getting to the crux soon so bear with me. I know my wife can claim FIS, we have 2 children. On my JA form it asks me to provide proof of me applying for work and also if I have a CV which I actually dont right now due to being Self employed for so long (11 years construction). The only jobs I applied for were through contacts within my industry who had no work to offer me. These were made quite casually ie through phone calls,I tried with about 10 different companies though. My problem is will I get JA and if I do can I apply for help with my mortgage interest. My outgoings have been cut right back,I am trying to sell my van and we have one car now which we share and is belonging to my wife. Even so we need to come up with around 3,500 pm just to keep our heads above water as our mortgage is almost half of that. We cannot downsize because we have a poor credit rating, when my business went down,we were owed in excess of 34k and borrowed on the strength of this and we could not pay it back so thats what killed us,but there are judgements now on our house so if we try to sell we end up with nothing if you see what I mean. My main question is will I qualify for JA? Will I qualify for mortgage supplement,I am going down to Dunnes and tesco 2moro and just going to try and get ANY kind of job for now so wish me luck with that project! I am certainly not afraid of work but have limited qualifications and inter cert education. Any replies or input would be great and I just hope to get a job soon!

no advice to give to you, except good luck.

You should get some kind of Job Assistance payment. In regard to CV just put togeher a honest cv on 1-2 pages for their records and to prove you applied for jobs put down on a piece of paper names and address of people you applied to even verbally(Include the odd phone number)- It would be seem you are making an effort.

They have so many people going in to sign on - they have to identify genuine job seekers and pure messers who have no intention of looking for a job

Did you read the key post in the Redundancy and Unemployment forum? This covers many of your concerns. Your are not the only one in the position you're in and I know how everything SW ask you seems like a mountain to claimb. Just remember, these people have great experience in 'hand-holding' people through the complicated assessment system. You ahve applided for Jobseeker's from a certain date. Did yuou ask to have it backdated and is this why they are asking for evidence of your jobseeking efforts? They don't expect you to provide evidence of efforts from Day 1 of claim, jsut to be available and intending to look for work. down the line they will review to see you are genuinely seeking full-time work. The reason they asked about full-time is that you have to looking fro full-time employemnt to get Jobseeker's Allowance. Get your spouse to apply for FIS immediately. Don't let it all overwhelm you: main thing is get the JA claim in plce, get FIS claim in place, get down to the CWO regardiang SWA and mortgage supplement applications (see key post in other forum.

Thanx welfarite and all who answered my query but toady I have good news,I spent literally the whole day knocking on doors and going into shops and restraunts etc in my town. I explained I had no experience as such but am a quick learner and was willing to work hard, unbelievably I have had 2 offers of work! one as a cosy for a taxi owner(have a psv licence but never used) over the xmas and new year and one as a warehouse asst starting new year, wages are not great but better than state benefitsthe taxi I will do now and the warehousing is 35 hrs shift work starting in new year,I literally just walked in and got it! No CV just me! Dont know how it will pan out but I am getting a trial. The fact is there seem to still be jobs out there if youre lucky!
Thanks to all but right now I am on a high,there is hope!

Fair play to you. I am sorry to hear that you lost your business, you seem like a go-getter who is not afraid of hard work, good luck with it.

There are jobs out there ... you've just got to be not afraid to drop your sights a bit. Try FAS if you need any help CV or anything. I found them to be excellent. Even recruitment agency websites have a lot of info on them.

Otherwise ... chin up and best of luck!