Hoping someone can help me here, I have read various posts as well as the welfare site and am pretty confused, so perhaps someone could assist?
I am currently on Jobseekers Benefit after being made redundant last year. I have applied for over 100 jobs in the last few months, and have had a few interviews, but no offers. My chances of finding work have decreased significantly as I am now 20 weeks pregnant, in itself an obstacle, but am sufferering badly from a pregnancy related condition which I am receiving treatment and physio for, and if I was still in work would have resulted in me being absent from work lately.
A friend tells me that I should be claiming for illness benefit as opposed to jobseekers benefit as I am unfit for work, but I don't know how that works, or what to do. My entitlement to JB runs out soon and I was hoping to get even temporary work so that I could get maternity benefit (I would be entitled based on PRSI record but need to be in employment to get it), but my chances of finding a job are narrowing all the time, especially as I can now barely walk.
My partner earns just slightly over the limit for me to claim JA, so I won't be entitled to that. To be clear, I have no interest in claiming anything I am not fully entitled to, I just want to know if I am claiming the wrong benefit and what if anything I should do now.
Thanks in advance for any replies.