various rants

Road tolling - I have mailed the Minister for Transport to ask for his views on road tolling. I would like to know this prior to the next election as it will have a big baring on how I vote.

If road tolling is a requirement then why were these road projects not farmed out to a third party company 20 years ago and the developer allowed to recoup his investment with 30%.

Another question, if I buy a Ford Focus for example in January new. I will pay VRT to the tune of 9K I think, also I will pay road tax and Fuel tax. Is this not adequate toll for a usage of 15 to 20000 miles per annum. So for all the years of paying road tax when there was no capital investment does this mean that my road tax was diverted to other Government departments.

I sent my mail last Friday and have received not so much as an acknowledgment. When Seamus Brennan was in office any mails to the department regarding complaints about CIE were dealt with promptly. I suppose he was doing a good job and had to be moved. (I think he was moved side ways by Bertie to take down a potential leadership rival)

Another thing on health, apparently Spain had similar problems with health that we have now here. They deregulated the whole health sector and now have doctors competing for business and waiting lists have vanished.

My point is that we were told that voting yes to Nice was a good thing for this country yet whatever problems we have in this country we cannot seem to look at countries in Europe and see how they do things and try and copy i.e. learning from other peoples mistakes.


Pensions - I am in my 30's now and have no pension I work on contract and cant afford to start one. Now a Government minister may server 5 years in that position and from that is entitled to Ministerial pension. Can anyone explain why this is. Why do they not have to generate their own pension? Why are retired pensioners entitled to bench marking. Why is bench marking not enforced. My friend works in a county council office having moved over from the private sector. She said the absolute imcompetence levels running through the civil service is shocking. She said if a company was run in that fashion it would be out of business in 6 months.

People in some departments have literally nothing to do and other departments are snowed under and doing endless overtime. There is no such thing as assigning resources to busy areas, if a quiet area is over staffed and someone leaves for say maternity leave there position has to be filled by a temporary staff member.

I have voted for Fianna Fail in the last number of elections but I am disillusioned by their failure to deliever. The demoralising thing is that there does'nt seem to be a viable alternative. There is definitely a space for a new party.

I think the general level of apathy among my age group is the thing that disappoints me most; low voter turnout etc.

The Government will only react to public opinion and if the public accept every Government legislation without batting an eye lid except down the boozer its no wonder the government has not delievered.

I fear with the rising strength against the dollar, the hard times are coming, I feel for people with big mortgages. I hope we are not left regretting missed oppurtunites.

P.S.

In a previous thread which questioned how Bush got back in. the American presidential election is just window dressing to make the people on the street believe they live in a democracy. People should look up the Committee for foreign relations (America Rules
by Tom Hanahoe is well worth a read)



Apologies for going on sometimes the hampster wheel gets you down.

and to make it worse, the golf and fishing season is pratically finished!

It has always bugged the hell out of me the way money is allocated to roads in this country; National primary roads get the lion's share of each council's annual budget. Even if that particular part of their road network is in good repair and doesn't really need it, the money must be spent in that area, in that year. Even if other roads need it more, the money must be spent in that area, in that year. Even if a particular section of road needs major improvement like re-alignment, and the budget won't quite stretch to it, but if they could roll over into next year they could manage it, the money must be spent in that area, in that year. I know that 5 year plans etc. are aimed at eliminating the final point, but it still happens. And what to senior council members et al do about it? SFA!

I am sure I read in the papers last week Minister Cullen is all for road tolling. His view seemed to be if you want road like they do in France/spain then they will have to be tolled.

God he is evil.

It makes me sick to think of what my road tax is spent on each year, 540ish euro is a LOT of money in my view. That money goes straight to the county councils. Its just one tax after another.

I was in a reasonably good mood until I read this thread...
Of course, I also agree with it all

At last I have a [broken link removed] of XXXAnother PersonXXX. :lol

France's roads have been subsidised by Ireland's obligatory EU contribution (from VAT ca. 1.1bln last year). Spain's and, ostensibly, Ireland's on the other hand were paid for with the 'weak sister' EU infrastructure and cohesion funds. Ireland has been on the receiving end of EU largess in the neighbourhood of 39bln. Germans drive drive to the costas and use Spanish roads. It was obvious were the money was / was not being spent.<!--EZCODE BR START--><!--EZCODE BR END--><!--EZCODE BR START--><!--EZCODE BR END-->Spotted many German reg plates lately?

At last I have a mental image of XXXAnother PersonXXX.

Very good Clubman . Actually, you're probably not too far off (As I've sometimes been told by my significant other.)

Did everyone read that study where Ireland was meant to be the country with the best quality of life, in the world? lies, damn lies and statistics...

Did everyone read that study where Ireland was meant to be the country with the best quality of life, in the world?

Click to expand...

Just heard it on the radio as I was pulling in to work. Funny thing, it didn't make me feel any better about living here!

It's covered in today's Irish Times:-

Ireland best in world for quality of life, survey finds



Next time you're stuck in a traffic jam in the pouring rain or travelling to see a relative who has been on a hospital trolley for 24 hours, take solace in this simple fact - you are officially the envy of the world. Liam Reid reports.
Despite the country's poor weather, problems in the health service, the high cost of living and gender inequality, Ireland has emerged as the best place in the world to live, according to an international survey.
The country came top of a worldwide quality-of-life index by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) for its The World in 2005 report.

All mitigated by the fact that Ireland retains "the good parts" of de Valera's vision of a strong community and family-based society, along with its newfound affluence.
Ireland's "quality of life" was because, unlike most other wealthy countries, it retains strong traditional values, with family breakdown, drink and drug addiction less so than other societies.

These factors, the study said, "easily" offset Ireland's scores for health, climate, and gender equality, which are below the European average.

So if you're a healthy wealthy male amphibian Ireland's your kind of place!