The perfect example of why this country is in a mess?

Purple said:
So only those affected by any topic should voice their opinion on that topic?
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Of course not but it's a bit rich to be telling people to cut back on their milk while you're taking the cream yourself.
 
Purple said:
If a retired civil servant wins the Lotto should their pension then be stopped?
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Depends on the conditions of the pension, but in general "yes".
All new state pensions should certainly have "win the lotto, stop the pension" clause.

The object of the pension is to allow you to continue to live in moderate comfort after your working life.
I see the day coming when people with means should not be taking a state pension as well - not with so many needy people.
 
Purple said:
So only those affected by any topic should voice their opinion on that topic?
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I'm only wait for Sutherland to do a piece to camera that begins ;

"We are all living way beyond our means..."

Yes Peter.

You're living wayyy beyond OUR means...
 
Peter Sutherland is non-executive chairman of Goldman Sachs International. Goldman Sachs were memorably described, by Rolling Stone journalist Matt Taibi, as "The world's most powerful investment bank is a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money. In fact, the history of the recent financial crisis, which doubles as a history of the rapid decline and fall of the suddenly swindled dry American empire, reads like a Who's Who of Goldman Sachs graduates".

When Peter Sutherland speaks, I do not expect to hear objective truths, so I don't pay any attention to what he has to say.
 
Sutherland, as Chairman of BP, was ranting and raving on RTE last year about how we're all going to be washed away by global warming and loads of people on these pages thought he was a great fellow.
 

If someone has paid for a pension (or it was part of their contract of employment) they should get it.
If someone hasn't and doesn't need then they shouldn't.

I am against all universal welfare payments; they should all be limited to the people who need them.
 
I met up with 4 friends at the weekend. I hadn't seen them in a while. 3 of them are living in Dublin and 1 in Cork and they all have good jobs and 3 of them have young children. We got chatting and I was very surprised to hear that 3 of them are actively looking into emigrating. The reason they gave was that they were sick of this country (for many reasons) and they did not want to bring up their kids here. Canada seemed the destination of choice. They reckoned the problems in this country would only get worse and that they were impossible to fix. From what they said I do expect them to leave and I think it is very sad.
 

That's not sad at all. That is people making a choice that they don't want to live Ireland any more. Good luck to them. I feel sorry for people who have no choice other than to emigrate even if they dont want to
 
That's not sad at all.
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I agree. Each to their own. If they don't wish to live here - grand!

I have some siblings abroad - none of whom are there for any reason other than they wish to be abroad. I have never heard them express a desire to return to Ireland - other than for the odd holiday (Lots of other interesting places to visit in the world and thankfully I usually get invited )

I feel sorry for people who don't have a choice but to leave Ireland to secure employment.

Marion
 
Sunny said:
That's not sad at all.
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It's not sad for them, but it is sad for Ireland, that 4 couples with jobs and children see no future here. So who are the people who do see a future here? People who live off the state? People who value quality of life less? People who blindly love the country no matter what it does?
Not dissing the place - I am still here myself, despite the Irish ruling class giving me an ulcer
 

Why is it sad for Ireland if people choose to live somewhere else? Good luck to them. I know people moving to Ireland but I don't think it is great news for the Country that they have decided to move here. People choosing to leave doesn't mean Ireland is doomed just like people moving here doesn't mean Ireland is some sort of Utopia.
 
Sunny said:
Why is it sad for Ireland if people choose to live somewhere else?
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Well, it'd certainly be far from sad if a good deal of the ruling class decided to up and leave.
There is value in looking at who is leaving and why. It helps us look at our own country and ask the right questions about who we are and where we are going.
 

Who is this ruling class that you are talking about?
 
Sunny said:
Who is this ruling class that you are talking about?
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They are many. Basically, the insiders of which McWilliams speaks. The people who were at the wheels when our State was brought to it's knees. Many politicians are gone, but what of the people in the department of finance, the people in the regulators office, the remaining people at the top of the banks, property developers with property in Nama who are still collecting cheques.
Add to this the many government quangos, the management of the HSE, the management in the department of health.
Then move to councils - that cull has begun, but it needs to be taken further.
We need a total re-organisation of how this state is run, and we need it yesterday.
And not just in the name of efficiency, but in the name of competance.
Anyone in a position of influence who told us we'd have a soft landing should be replaced with those who didn't preach this mantra. We couldn't do any worse, so this change would be neutral at worst, and positive at best.
We need to look at the countries that have best weathered the storm, and borrow from them what we can.
We need our best people here, and our worst people out.
 
Marion said:
I have some siblings abroad - none of whom are there for any reason other than they wish to be abroad.
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I agree; to some people the grass is always greener or maybe they travelled somewhere, liked the lifestyle / weather / work oppurtunities etc. I have friends who left to do a year travelling but settled along the way and havent left.

Marion said:
I feel sorry for people who don't have a choice but to leave Ireland to secure employment.
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Teatime states that those considering leaving have good jobs etc. so they aren't being forced. I left over two years ago to find work, not happy about it then, not happy now but what else can I do. Its when I read headlines like the following, rather than the OP's example, that I see why Ireland is in a mess.

http://breakingnews.ie/ireland/kenny-defends-pay-cap-breach-by-his-department-523109.html

http://breakingnews.ie/ireland/norris-trinity-told-me-to-take-disability-payments-523199.html

http://www.independent.ie/national-...k-for-staff-since-he-left-office-2896234.html

http://www.independent.ie/national-...no-cronyism-in-my-business-deals-2895902.html
 
Purple said:
The last thing this country needs it people who are vastly successful working for the state or offering advice.
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Or perhaps that's just what it does need! The US, for example, has a long tradition of wealthy and/or successful individuals being asked to lend their brains to the state for a few years. Any salary they get would be paltry in comparison to their other earnings/wealth. What the state gets is proven ability harnessed to the public good. Wealthy individuals, especially self-made ones, obviously have a lot of drive/flair. Wouldn't it be a civic good for Ireland if they were to be asked to perform public work unpaid or for minimum pay, and given a relatively free hand to innovate?
 

I agree. I was being sarcastic in the post you quoted.
 
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