Taoiseach urges restraint in pay talks

Mint Sauce

unfortunaltly i didn't get home to vote, didn't organise a proxy or postal vote in time, so i cant really use the democratic arguemment for voting someone else my self, rather than FF, when i didn't use my opertunity at all,

it still makes me angry though when the demoratically elected leader comes on with something like this, a 30k odd payrise for ffs when the rest of us only want a little more to make our lifes more comfortable

tech77

Keth_tgi wrote: »

Thing is we should build a big huge mammogram machine to see if Bertie really is the cancer killing this country, but I for one think that already.

Beautifully apt metaphor there.

I don't think you'd need triple assessment or a mammography machine to diagnose that.

I'm just wondering to myself how much longer this fool can stay in office though.
Surely he's a liability at this stage.

I used to stupidly think "Good oul' Bertie, sure he's harmless" but the more I see and hear of him now the more he angers me.

Hopefully he'll be gone in a month.

Wertz

"Urges restraint"

Can someone translate that for us? I mean the man can't turn around and tell people they're not getting a decent payrise....any union that accepts such calls for "restraint" would do well to battle their member's corner in the face of such callousness, by whatever means necessary, be that strike in warranted cases. People doing any job deserve fair wages and fair should be relative....people on an average industrial wage asking for 10% is akin to higher earners asking for 5%.
All the arguments about this destabilising the economy don't mean a damn thing when it's the workers who account for so much of that economy. If people can only afford to pay bills/mortgage and put basic food on the table thus having little disposable income, then that hurts economies too.

Shame on Mr Ahern, although I doubt he knows the true meaning of the word...

Mint Sauce

tech77 wrote: »

Beautifully apt metaphor there.

I don't think you'd need triple assessment or a mammography machine to diagnose that.

I'm just wondering to myself how much longer this fool can stay in office though.
Surely he's a liability at this stage.

I used to stupidly think "Good oul' Bertie, sure he's harmless" but the more I see and hear of him now the more he angers me.

Hopefully he'll be gone in a month.

he doesn't have the nickname teflon for nothing, how many scandels and tribunials have there been, and he's still in office

Tipsy Mac

To the 41.6% of people who voted them in, we thank you:D.

Mr.Micro

I reckon Bertie has the rubber neck for the long haul as he is clearly going to enjoy himself ,as we have been reminded by another poster that Bertie is not seeking re-election.He will have to be pushed as his ego has become so inflated of late that he appears not to care in the least what is said to him.

ioshmearse

Bertie and Harney said they werent responsible for employees in the HSE after recent Portlaoise cancer scandal. They paid an 'independent group' to review higher salaries in the public sector and surprise surprise the result was a pay rise 4 times the max expected in Benchmarking 2. They claim they are worth it because they were underpaid compared to private sector CEOs.

If the public sector and the health sector & education in particular were the private sector, Bertie, Harney & Hanafin would have been fired long ago and probably sued/prosecuted for wasting shareholders money.

Harney and Bertie are ultimatley responsible for individual employees in the HSE. Dick Roche started this disassociation from public entities within ministerial portfolios when he publicly denied any ulitmate responsibility for various county councils' f... ups.

I work in the public sector and estimate there is four degrees of seperation from my ministerial supervisor. There is no accountability anywhere in the public service. They've had 10 years to sort our healthcare and its still a mess.

Hiro Nakamura has upset the space time continuum and we're back with CJH and Charvais Shirts (or bass and oysters at the Galway races) while the rest of us cope with pay rises below the cost of living or no rises and unemployment for more private sector workers.

THEY WANT PAY RISES IN LINE WITH CEOs THEN TAKE THE RESPONSIBILITY.

purple'n'gold

Just imagine, a gobsh1te like Bertie is paid more than the president of the US, the prime minister of the UK and the chancellor of Germany. It’s like the manager of a corner shop being paid more than the manager of Macy’s. only in Ireland “the last great bastion of bullsh1t and codswallop west of the Urals.”

irishfeller

Bertie is some chancer - its unbelievable! Paid more than the US president...and the neck on him giving himself a pay rise!

But then he knows the Irish..we will moan for a while and the polls will go down for a little while then us fickle bunch will find something else to complain about and it will be all forgotten...if it happened in france there would be a nationwide strike!

Mossy Monk

Hopefully all the idiots who voted Fianna Fail are happy. Well done.

Didn't Worzil McCrevey mention that Bertie would be a welcome addition to Europe.

Fanny Cradock

I was listening to the Last Word today - apparently on top of this 14% pay rise and subsequent call for pay constraint for the rest of us, Bertie gets €250,000 per annum from the government to pay for 8 civil servants to work in his constituency office. I wonder if that goes down as 'sundries' along with the biscuits and tea bags for the office workers in the balance books?

Doesn't matter. The eijits keep voting them in despite the fact that most of em are blind ignorant to what they're actually voting for and just do it cos their family are Fianna Fail. I have seen that scenario sooooooo many times. Fianna Fail - The Sheeps' Party. Free thinkers not welcome.

transylman

To see just how bad these guys are take a look at the following.

http://thatsireland.com/2007/11/05/fianna-fails-fifty-ways-to-laugh-at-voters/#more-677

Its pretty shocking what they have gotten away with when you gather it all up into one list like that.

ziggy

This post has been deleted.

jor el

Dalfiatach wrote: »

:rolleyes:

By not voting, you enabled his victory. You are responsible - to a lesser degree than those who actively voted FF perhaps, but responsible nonetheless.

I knew someone would say that. The right not to vote is every bit as important as the right to vote. If no one deserves a vote then don't give it to any of them.

If anything, this election proves that voting is mostly a waste of time. Tha vast majority of voters didn't want the PDs back in power, given that they lost 6 out of 8 seats. However, they are still back in the government, contrary to the wishes of the people.

Tis simple maths. If all the people who didn't vote had voted, and voted for the Opposition, then Bertie and all his freak-show of incompetent goons would be but an unpleasant memory. By vacating the field you let the muppets win.

If everyone who hadn't voted did, then there's no way all of them would have voted for the oposition. If anything, FF may have gotten an overall majority and not needed partners at all.

My decision not to vote was one of geography anyway, but I'd still choose not to vote if I felt it necessary.

Charisma

In a fair world all public servants would get the same % payrise as our leaders. If not I think we should all kick up murder..
Thats whats wrong in this country. Nobody ever challenges the powers that be. They get away with it because WE let them.
Are we not all supposed to be equal and have equal rights. If its fair that they get a certain % then we all should get the same. If we dont its discrimination in my book.

Jay D

it would make my day to see that bastard get hit by lightening - far fetched like his wages.

What's the problem? He has to pay back the debts he owes his mates for the whip around, give him a break ffs.

Gillie

He's gonna be remembered as worse than CH when he's done.
He/They really don't give a $hite do they?

tech77

Jay D wrote: »

it would make my day to see that bastard get hit by lightening - far fetched like his wages.

Don't be coy and tell us how you really feel about Bertie Ahern why don't you mate..

thefinalstage

Gillie wrote: »

He's gonna be remembered as worse than CH when he's done.
He/They really don't give a $hite do they?

At least Charlie was generous at the budget!

bunny shooter

restraint ! I get 20c per hour in my next payrise, what does he want me to restrain ? Now if I was getting 38K I'd say fair enough, restrain me ! Twat !!

The people who voted them in need restraining, by the throat !

Jigsaw

The utterances of those who don't know their place in society. If you work in a call centre/bakery/building site or something and get a **** payrise, just accept it, or else better yourself and maximise your earning potential.

Bertie got a payrise but would any single person on Boards turn down a pay rise of any description if they were offered it? (Cue pseudo socialist bull**** posters). The world isn't fair - it never has been and never will be. You have to maneuovre yourself into a position to earn big and take it while you can.

You'll criticise Bertie while you'll think the world of Premiership footballers who earn the same in a fortnight as Bertie earns in a year.

Catch yourselves on ffs.

Blush_01

Charlie is still considered a saint by some deluded people. Likewise, a certain number of people will always look on Bertie as a great man.

I frankly find him disgusting. However, Fine Gael's inability to stand against Fianna Fail's policies and actually, gee, I dunno, have some of their own in the lead up to the elections was equally sickening. The miserable tit-for-tat that played out was so disheartening.

What I would have voted for:
An increase in income tax, of 2 or 3 per cent, in return for improved healthcare, education and welfare. (But why scare the punters with realistic and feasible changes that might make their lives easier, that'd be wrong!)

The creation of a new, higher tax band at 50%, with the reduction of the current high band to act as an intermediate band between the lower and new higher rate. Overall revenue would increase, but those currently earning less in the higher tax bracket than they would if they worked a little less and therefore paid less tax would feel a less dramatic difference in their pockets. End result - more money for the government to spread around, and a certain proportion of the workforce more willing to work a little extra as the benefits wouldn't be wiped out by the costs.

Realistic staged measures with visible results where the improvement of health care facilities and an intelligent solution to the problems of overcrowding where education is concerned. State subsidised childcare for pre-schoolers, to match free primary and secondary education, means based if necessary.

There's lots of other stuff, but for jaysus sake, if reforms had been proposed and phrased simply so people didn't get scared when they saw income tax increase etc. coming at them, it might have worked. Oh well.

phantom_lord

Nicki123 wrote: »

http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/1108/economy.html

This just about made my blood boil when I read it - cheeky f**ker takes a hefty 38k extra home per annum but urges the rest of us poor plebs who keep the wheels on the economy to show restraint!!!!!

lol

bunny shooter

Jigsaw wrote: »

The utterances of those who don't know their place in society. If you work in a call centre/bakery/building site or something and get a **** payrise, just accept it, or else better yourself and maximise your earning potential.

Bertie got a payrise but would any single person on Boards turn down a pay rise of any description if they were offered it? (Cue pseudo socialist bull**** posters). The world isn't fair - it never has been and never will be. You have to maneuovre yourself into a position to earn big and take it while you can.

You'll criticise Bertie while you'll think the world of Premiership footballers who earn the same in a fortnight as Bertie earns in a year.

Catch yourselves on ffs.

Bertie thought you could come up with a better nickname :rolleyes:

phantom_lord

I actually think Bertie is badly paid when u consider the pay packs of the ceos of irish plcs, he is running the country after all.

bunny shooter

phantom_lord wrote: »

I actually think Bertie is badly paid when u consider the pay packs of the ceos of irish plcs, he is running the country after all.

Now Brian Cowen is here too:rolleyes:

Sinfonia

Keth_tgi wrote: »

I for one did not vote for FF, but what really annoys me are the spineless so and so's who did vote FF, then have the audicity to complain about them when we're suddenly in the sh_t.

Stand by your man you 40% of the nation who are destroying us every 5 years.

If you're against FF, wouldn't you want people who voted for them to change their minds?

The-Rigger wrote: »

Until we are given some decent options, or they put a 'none of the above' option on the poll, I won't be voting.

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