Critique of the Public Sector

Deiseblue said:
The report shows that our PS are performing slightly better than the European average despite SIGNIFICANTLY less funding .
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Lies damned lies and statistics; our GNP is inflated by repatriated profits from MNC's. Even our GNI is higher that it should be because of the Pharma and Financial sectors (but you knew that).

Even taking the fact that our GNI figure is inflated using it leaves us above the EU average. From the report;
"An alternative indicator to assess the comparative size
of Ireland’s public spending is to use GNI (gross national
income) rather than GDP, as GNI does not include
repatriated profits from Ireland which inflate the GDP
figure9. Using this GNI indicator, the size of the public
sector has been above the EU average since 2007. In
2012 government expenditure as a percentage of GNI
was 51.4 per cent, now close to the European average
of 49.3 per cent"

Health is the single biggest expenditure item in every EU country. We have the youngest population in the EU.
We should have the lowest healthcare expenditure rates because of that demographic advantage but we don’t. If our population age profile was the EU average I wonder what our expenditure rates would be?

We also have no Army, Navy or Air force or state intelligence service would talking about. What percentage of expenditure does the average EU state allocate to its defence and security operations carried out by its public sector?

We also need to take into account that we have 3rd level fees (and none of our Universities are in the top 100 in the world, some scales don't put any of them in the top 200).
 

If performance is adequate based on current expenditure, what is adequate spending?

The only detailed breakdown of sectors is education and health. They seem pretty consistent. Therefore no significant improvements or declines with the cuts in spending.

In education, over 80% of spend goes on salaries. Wages have dropped since 2008, but no proportional decline in standards.

The report suggests that the measures and efficiencies forced on the PS have not resulted in a significant decline in service. So another conclusion is that these efficiencies could have been made a long time ago except we had to wait for the IMF to impose them and it appears the IMF were right.

Another spin is that it's a ringing endorsement for the inefficiency of the PS in the past and how austerity has worked.
 
I thought the canard regarding teacher's pay being 80% of total spend had been truly nailed.
The cost of teacher's salaries at primary & post primary in 2012 came to €3.78 billion or 44% of the education budget of €8.67 billion for that year.

These figures can be verified in the review of estimates for the Public Sector 2012.

Yes , it does appear that PS workers are working longer , harder & for less pay to keep services running - hats off to them ! - will this scenario last ?

Now that the Government & the media have played up an economic recovery I think that wage demands will surely follow across all sectors , I know that Haddington Road precludes such demands but that won't stop Unions seeking a reduction to the pension levy & a reversal of cuts for the lower paid.
 

Considering that our national debt is closing in on 180bn and you're retired, I'd be keeping shtum if I were you...

http://www.financedublin.com/debtclock.php

The banking debt (around 55bn now that BOI have fully repaid their bailout + the stake we still have in BOI) is starting to look smaller and smaller compared to our national debt total...but let's keep blaming the banks!

Not saying you're blaming the banks though Deise, just making the point.
 

I'm sorry Firefly - I don't understand your point .

How is the national debt , my being retired & keeping shtum & the banking debt related ?
 
Deiseblue said:
I'm sorry Firefly - I don't understand your point .

How is the national debt , my being retired & keeping shtum & the banking debt related ?
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Hi Deise, not the clearest point I'll admit!

Basically, what I was trying it convey is that our national debt is so high and continues to increase, that at some stage we're going to hit a brick wall and there'll be nothing left. The reference to banking debt was to illustrate the ever decreasing proportion of our national debt that is made up of banking debt...we're spending far more than we earn and continue to do so even with marginal income tax rates of over 50%. Increasing PS pay and the like will only IMO bring us to that brick wall sooner.

Firefly
 
Point taken but I still have no idea how my retirement & keeping shtum enter the equation !
 
mandelbrot said:
Steady on now, I'm sure WizardDr will be along in due course to disabuse you of any notions you have about Revenue's fitness for purpose...
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ROS was a greenfield IT project which required information from millions of taxpayers using possibly hundreds of different electronic systems and many using paper systems. They were obliged to report in a standard format.

The interface is a bit clunky and I have no idea if the security is any good, but the delivery of the system was a huge success.

At present the US government is trying to do something similar with medical records. It remains to be seen if they get it right.
 
Vanilla said:
I'd nominate the Property Registration Authority. Fantastic online services, overworked staff doing a great job. Innovative and progressive.
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Can you suggest why the PRSA does such a good job, why is it innovative and progressive. This can hardly be said of all the Public Service.
 

Early primary education is excellent. The teachers have a clearly defined job i.e. to teach children to read and write.

After that I believe things go down hill.

What are 4th and 5th class in primary school for. What is 2nd year at secondary school for.

Many parents would be concerned if their children failed to learn to read and write in the early years, but how do you know if your child is being challenged at a later stage.
 
Purple said:
Why not?
I think the Passport Office does a great job, now that I think about it.
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Why. What is it about the Passport office that means they do a good job.

Didn't they have serious problems some years ago. How did they go about resolving them. What lessons can be learned from that.
 
Regarding education at second level, with the decline of the influence of the Church there is a huge scramble underway to occupy the idealogical aspect of teacher training.

Trainee teachers do not as you might expect spend their time learning how to explain complex concepts in mathematics or history. Nor is there much time given to the history of education or studying educational approaches in other countries.

The Program is almost entirely idealogical in content. Inclusion, equality, sensitivity. Sinn Fein without the republicanism.

If we have problems with education standards in 15 years time, it is because we are too busy indoctrinating young teachers to train them.

Following fashionable ideologies is part of the reason people are dissatisfied with public services. The planning ideology that holds rural people must live in clusters asa small example.
 
Hi cremeegg

You seem really clued in on educational issues.

I'm a second level teacher who teaches at further education level.

What are your opinions on this sector?

Regards

Marion
 

You clearly missed the at the end of my post!
 

cremeegg said:
Why. What is it about the Passport office that means they do a good job.

Didn't they have serious problems some years ago. How did they go about resolving them. What lessons can be learned from that.
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You must have been out the day they covered the use of the question mark... at a quick glance I think you're missing at least half a dozen there...

(Or maybe they never covered it?! Shoddy, shoddy, shoddy!)
 
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