A master class in the construction of false dichotomies there Bronte.
We still have twice as many nurses as France, the best paid doctors in Europe (and the best paid consultants in the world) and teachers who are amongst the best paid in Europe. We still have the second shortest school year in the EU (after Greece) and a very short working week generally in the public sector in general and in healthcare in particular (junior doctors excluded).
What’s the solution to a lack of resources in the public sector? Easy; everyone works a 39 hour week for no extra money. All of a sudden there’s 10-15% more hours available. Problem solved. If things get worse increase it to 45 hours a week for no extra money and cut numbers by 10-15%. Of course those that are laid off would have to get their statutory redundancy but that would be a one off cost.
Given the above it’s as credible to say that delays in operations are due to the underworked and overpaid medical staff and home carers allowance is being cut due to previous pay increases in the sector that sucked money out of that area. Little Jonnie with special needs has had his supports cut because teachers took the money for themselves in pay rises. In other words I can link cause and effect to anything that suits my bias just as you can and just as any journalist can.
That clown Fintan O’Toole wrote an article in the Irish Times yesterday ([broken link removed]) suggesting that the country was rolling in money and unless we tax the rich more (you know, the 5% who already pay 50% of the income tax) then we are really just baby killers. The man knows about as much about economics as Jedward do about particle physics. We need to stop the hysterical emotive nonsense and accept that reality isn’t always nice and fairness is in the eye of the beholder.
That's a straw man argument Purple.
You're batting back points Bronte didn't raise.
Bronte is quite right in what she posted, and while many of the comments you made appear to be as clever and self-supporting as a good sports bra some of them seem to fall apart under investigation.
Let's look at just one.
You are comparing apples and oranges when you're talking about nurses pay here and elsewhere. You have made no comparative study of the health services, pension and social service entitlements here and abroad, which go some way to take money out of people's pockets and into the state's so it can provide services in ill health and in later life. Here we're supposed to look after these through private means and we haven't or cannot, partly through the situation we're in with mortgages and negative equity.
But let's not descend to the Sarkozy level of criticism, where we criticize an isolated point like corporate tax while ignoring other issues that are relevant.
[broken link removed]
There seems to be a lot of sharp practice in Irish business these days so its no surprise that the mere thought of scrutinising high earners under the guise of asking them to pay more tax, or even pay what they owe to people, would send some of them into an apoplectic fit.
However the fact remains that many of these unqualified successes are still serving on the boards of banks and businesses, still undermining the credibility of our lending institutions and companies and still working to line their nests in the middle of a recession instead of paying their dues.
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I have no problem with asking medical staff to work longer hours, but only in the context of everyone being asked to do so, particularly the directors of financial institutions and companies who seem able to rotate around golden circles on the pretext of bringing grey headed wisdom to 12 and more different companies each year but who in fact, through their incompetence and lack of diligent attention to their duties were the authors of our economic deconstruction.
The perception is that such as these are not suffering at all in the present climate, which has the rest of us on interest only mortgages, suspending our pension payments, cancelling our health insurance and struggling to pay back our loans.
This occurs because of a dearth of profitable work, and where there is work, a plethora of clients who walk away from their debts. Ireland today is rife with real-world sharp practice situations and lies, so please don't bother painting the monied élite as anything other than the self-serving money grubbers that they are.
ONQ.