We've succeeded in reducing the proportion of people who smoke in Ireland. The money spent in this area has been shown to be a good investment both societally and economically. Why would we stop doing something that's working?Fair enough! Let's cease paying professionals to assist people shedding the smoking habit. The practice hasn't worked. Whoever wants to smoke, let them smoke within the restrictions that currently operate. Even reduce the price of the box of fags and let the state regain whatever taxes are being lost by smokers purchasing ciggies from abroad. And perhaps we can regain more tax by selling cheaper than the countries selling @ €50.00 for ten pack of twenty.
We've tried everything else, now let's try something different.
When I was sick our daughter who was 8 at the time fainted when she came in to see me, on the way down she bumped her head and my wife brought her to the A&E on site. About a year later we get a bill for €120 and was told that if we didn't pay it immediately we would be perused via the courts, I happened to be in the hospital the following week for a CT scan and brought the threat/bill with me, after the CT scan I found the accounts department and asked why I was only aware of this now and why the legal threats.I was checking in Number 1 child for a day procedure in CUH a couple of years ago, got asked if I had medical insurance and made the mistake of saying yeah, Got sent to the other side of the hospital to fill out some forms. Did we get anything extra for that? No.
No/less revenue. People's health has always been second to money in this country and I fear always will.We've succeeded in reducing the proportion of people who smoke in Ireland. The money spent in this area has been shown to be a good investment both societally and economically. Why would we stop doing something that's working?
I think the people involved all mean well but they just aren't capable of doing the job properly.No/less revenue. People's health has always been second to money in this country and I fear always will.
I’m not suggesting you are wrong; you could very well be totally correct on this.We've succeeded in reducing the proportion of people who smoke in Ireland. The money spent in this area has been shown to be a good investment both societally and economically. Why would we stop doing something that's working?
Excellent point.The reason I am suspicious is because of conversations I had over the years with various consultants attending my father.
They said that smoking often masks other irritants and conditions that lead to the above diseases and often clinicians don’t look beyond smoking.
After 17+years you would think so.........hmm.Were it successful, surely we would be bombarded with pre- and post-smoking ban comparative statistics?
There's some analysis out there.Were it successful, surely we would be bombarded with pre- and post-smoking ban comparative statistics?
I don't understand why people believe it either as it's a complete myth. Lidl, Aldi and Tesco are giving away fruit and vegetables for next to nothing (e.g. large bags of apples, carrots and potatoes for 49 cents). Healthy staples such as beans, wholegrain rice and tinned tomatoes are also very cheap. Obese citizens gorging on frozen fish fingers is a social and cultural problem, not the result of economic circumstances.I really don't know how that nonsense it's cheaper to eat processed food than fresh food gets any traction.
I can easily feed a family two teenagers, a 12 year old and myself for €60 a week. At a stretch I could do it for €50 or a little less.I don't understand why people believe it either as it's a complete myth. Lidl, Aldi and Tesco are giving away fruit and vegetables for next to nothing (e.g. large bags of apples, carrots and potatoes for 49 cents). Healthy staples such as beans, wholegrain rice and tinned tomatoes are also very cheap. Obese citizens gorging on frozen fish fingers is a social and cultural problem, not the result of economic circumstances.
I usually spend far more because I can afford to and I like cooking but when things were tighter I adjusted my spending accordingly. Nobody was hungry.Both myself and my wife can easily live well on less than €30 per week for food. In fact we had to stop using the €10 off a €50 spend in Dunnes Stores voucher because we couldn't spend enough. After a while you can have so many bottles of bleach, dishwasher tabs etc.
We now get a €5 off a €25 spend and that is working well.
To think that people are spending that amount of money in a day on cigarettes and more. What fools.
We are having a birthday get together for our 18 year old grand daughter shortly. We visited all of the supermarkets over this week including M & S. to have a look at their party offering stuff. We topped up on the "special offers" in each store when we saw them and as a result have a well stocked fridge and freezer that will more than keep us going.
I will have difficulty spending my current €5 off a €25 spend from Dunnes Stores this week as a result.
Adults are entitled to stuff themselves with rubbish food but not their children. Bad nutrition fuels poor educational attainment, the reproduction of social disadvantage and by extension of crime, poverty and anti-social behaviour. There is a strange tolerance here of irresponsible parenting and an unwillingness to hold parents to account who in effect are abusing their children.If you say you can't but want to and feed your kids processes rubbish you're just lazy and don't care enough about them to bother.
Increased Carbon Tax only means higher prices if we keep using hydrocarbons to generate out power. Thankfully it's looking like the EU will designate Nuclear as a Green Power source. We may finally embrace the only dependable and sustainable green energy.Increased Carbon Tax means increased fuel costs, which in turn means the cost of everything else is increased.
Even those who live very frugally will find the cost of food, cleaning, grooming, clothing, household goods, domestic fuel and petrol & diesel have increased.
This is on top of already rising fuel costs.
The last thing the economy needs right now is higher prices.
Ireland’s price index for household consumption expenditure, at 136.1, is the second highest in the EU after Denmark.
The price indices for Germany, France, Italy & Spain, for instance, are 108.2, 114.01, 101.2, & 95.5 respectively. The UK is 119.1.
But when will that happen?Increased Carbon Tax only means higher prices if we keep using hydrocarbons to generate out power. Thankfully it's looking like the EU will designate Nuclear as a Green Power source. We may finally embrace the only dependable and sustainable green energy.
God only knows.But when will that happen?
I think there are factors outside the HSE why these highly paid professionals choose not to work in Ireland but in London, Australia or Canada. There is a lack of the cosmopolitan nightlife and leisure activities that they find outside Ireland. They pay higher tax in Ireland than elsewhere due to our "progressive" taxation system where high earners pay the bulk of the tax. There is a lack of investment opportunities compared to the UK or Canada where high earners can invest money tax free like the personal savings accounts that the UK has.Financially, Hospital Consultants do have an amazingly sweet deal, certainly compared to the NHS Consultant contract. I think the problem is that the Irish public health system is an unattractive place to work, regardless of the deal.
Yep, our very high marginal tax rates on moderate incomes are a major disincentive to work and work is what creates wealth. It also seems that doctors like money just as much as the rest of us.I think there are factors outside the HSE why these highly paid professionals choose not to work in Ireland but in London, Australia or Canada. There is a lack of the cosmopolitan nightlife and leisure activities that they find outside Ireland. They pay higher tax in Ireland than elsewhere due to our "progressive" taxation system where high earners pay the bulk of the tax. There is a lack of investment opportunities compared to the UK or Canada where high earners can invest money tax free like the personal savings accounts that the UK has.
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