Benchmarking payments will sink economy, STOP now!

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You are paying for a temp to take over their role, training them in and the cost of recruiting them ... its does not happen for free - our tax pays for it.

Re: ..

Comparison of the levels of service provided by public vs private sector workers is an interesting one.

I have been less than impressed recently by the standard of customer service in a number of private sector areas. I'm referring specifically to restaurants, shops & phone "help" lines for my credit card. I would say good things about the phone service from both Vodafone and AIB recently.

Despite criticisms of the public sector, the most pleasant business phone interaction I have had recently was with a member of Dublin Corporation when I phoned to pay my bin charges. He was pleasant, helpful, efficient and gave "added value" by checking the system to make sure I would get my tax relief on the payment.

Even when consumers are willing to talk with their feet by leaving poor private service providers, there doesn't appear to be an appreciable improvement in services. I don't understand why that is.

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Even when consumers are willing to talk with their feet by leaving poor private service providers, there doesn't appear to be an appreciable improvement in services. I don't understand why that is.

Click to expand...

I suspect it's the sheep like qualities of the average Joe. You might be willing to find an alternative, but a lot of people would find it difficult to complain and take action.

I seem to spend my life in some disagreement or other with these large companies...

Eircon Phonewatch: Have found an alternative after being messed around for three years. Still waiting for a form to be sent out so that I can claim a refund. (they should have sent it out over a month ago - sick of ringing them, calls never returned).

AIB/Bank of IrelandThey seem set on outdoing each other in red tape, general bad service and bureaucracy. I've long since parted company with these banks, but unfortunately still have to lodge the odd cheque to the BoI. Every time I go into the branch they have new rules... (cheques must be lodged every second Wednesday at the third counter, but should be verified first by the fifth counter...)

Esat BT Insist on charging me double for their broadband service. I've given up with them. (and obviously not paid them anything) My brother is still in dispute with them over another issue. It's gone on for over two years...

Apple I've found that it's near impossible to actually buy an Apple Mac. I tried buying a reconditioned one (see different thread) but failed miserably. I then tried an Irish dealer. A week later they informed me that Apple had put the machines into remission (or something). I then tried ordering again from Apple. I sent them a cheque nearly three weeks ago. They still haven't started processing my order.

I'm sure that there are others. (My mind tries to block them out!)

I can't imagine the problem is with me. I also do dealings with other (small) companies, and have had great service. Maybe it's as soon as a company installs those phone call queuing systems that they get rid of customer service.

Back to Benchmarking basics

The big difference between the quality of service between the public sector and private sector is though, that employees in the private sector firms you name aren't automatically getting a huge pay rise because they turn up for work each day, flexis and sick days permitting.

There is no incentive at all for the civil service to become more focussed on its customers. One poster mentioned excellent service from a council in Dublin: this is precisely the sort of thing that should be rewarded, but that particular clerk's manager is precluded from offering him / her a special reward because of strictures imposed under benchmarking and other such arranagements.

Time to stop the folly of benchmarking now ! Will none of our politicos listen to this cry from the rest of us taxpayers who have to pay for all this ???

Farce !

via indo.

Teachers won't quit overstaffed schools


ONE-in-four post-primary schools re-opening next month will be officially over-staffed, new figures reveal.

Schools will have around 250 "surplus" teachers working at an estimated cost to the taxpayer of more than €10m-a-year.

The teachers are over and above the official quota, based on the number of pupils allowed for the schools by the Department of Education and Science.

Many schools now have declining enrolments. But attempts to move the surplus teachers to other schools under a Redeployment Scheme are proving unsuccessful.

Once teachers are officially staffed, they cannot be made redundant even when pupil numbers are dropping.

The Irish Independent has learned that only one teacher is being compulsorily reassigned to another school this year while four others have volunteered to move elsewhere.

The Department's figures show that 120 secondary schools, including two fee-paying and eight community/comprehensive schools, are overstaffed.

Ten schools will have at least five teachers too many, details released under the Freedom of Information Act show.

The over-quota fee-paying schools are Notre Dame des Massions in Dublin, which had been threatened with closure, and Pembroke school.




The Department said the surplus amounted to 6.75pc of the total number of teachers allocated to the 120 schools in question. But its figure was disputed by school managers who claimed it was only 1.6pc.

The two sides also differed over why so few teachers are being redeployed. The managers said it was not always possible to match teachers who are over quota with the required vacancy in another school.

But the Department said the real reason was due to the last-in first-out clause in the redeployment agreement between the secondary school managers and the ASTI.

The fact that the most junior teacher is considered for redeployment contributed to the difficulty of matching over-quota teachers with subject needs in other schools, the Department said.

The Irish Independent understands that Education Minister Noel Dempsey is anxious to get a more efficient redeployment system throughout the entire post-primary sector - community/comprehensive, vocational and voluntary schools.

The principal of one Dublin community school admitted on radio recently he has teachers he does not need but they cannot be moved elsewhere.

This is because at present there is no redeployment scheme for the community/comprehensive school sector.

There is a scheme for vocational teachers but they can be redeployed only within their VEC area and not to other types of schools.

The scheme that exists for voluntary schools works on the basis of last in-first out.

Teachers can only be forced to redeploy within a 30-mile radius.

However, schools argue successfully that they need their most junior teachers for particular subjects and they avoid redeployment.

ASTI deputy general secretary John White said the real issue was not the pupil-teacher ratio but class sizes. International comparisons had shown that Ireland had larger classes than most other developed countries in the OECD. Far from schools losing teachers they should be get getting more, he said.

A report commissioned by the Department - the McGuinness report - had recommended that an additional 1,200 teachers be appointed to our schools. Instead of implementing this report, the Department was cutting back wherever it could and schools were losing 300 so-called 'concessionary' posts this year. He said these posts are necessary to meet shortages of teachers in specialist subjects.

School managers said the redeployment scheme had only a limited impact on the situation as it was not always possible to match teachers who were over quota in one school with the required vacancy in another school.

George O'Callaghan, secretary of the school management body JMB said schools would still remain short of teachers to provide specialist subjects in the curriculum.

He said this shortage would lead to a curtailment in the service provided to pupils and parents.

Mr O'Callaghan claimed figures for over-quota teachers were inflated because they included essential personnel such as Deputy Principals, Career Guidance Counsellors and Remedial teachers in certain schools.

Naas hospital

What about the casualty unit in Naas hospital which won't open unless they get 1.something million euro from the government (ie. us). That seems like an awful lot of money to me for getting up and walking a few yards into a new building. What exactly is the problem here? Is it public service attitude again?

Re: Naas hospital

Frequently money is made available for capital developments, without money being made available for running costs of the new development. I wonder if this is the story here?