What else can we do?

To The North

there are wars waging on boards at the moment over the economy and public sector pay in particular.

i want to start a fresh thread of ideas, what else can the country/government do to help save money? let's step away from the public/private war and take a look at other ways that money can be saved, in the same way as you'd look at your own life & how you can save money if times are tight!

i'm not talking about *instead of* public sector pay cuts, i just mean in general what ideas do people have about money saving.

i don't want this to be another thread about public wages so lets stay away from that whole area!

things i was thinking of:

• cut back on government expenses (no one needs a limo or a 5 star hotel when the country is almost bankrupt)
• go back to the tradition of turning on the christmas lights on the 8th december (as far as i know in dublin the individual shops on certain streets pay for the actual lights, but the electricity bill falls to the city) - imagne how much extra money is spent on the electricity for these lights all over the country each year!
• bin the metro north plans
• look at reducing street lighting in places that it is excessive, without putting safety at risk
• individual public sector workplaces can look at how money is possibly wasted by not switching off lights, PCs & other office equipment, paper wastage, excessive heating

i'm not saying this will save the country, i'm just trying to encourage thought flow on what money saving ways we're overlooking! every little helps at this stage :pac:

genericguy

stop spending money on harp-shaped bridges.

pool tables and televisions in prisons.

don't get a shyte christmas tree for o'connell st that costs 1m euro.

fire pat kenny, ryan rubbery and marian finucane.

that is all.

El Weirdo

Take advice from your username.

Rob67

To The North wrote: »

there are wars waging on boards at the moment over the economy and public sector pay in particular.

i want to start a fresh thread of ideas, what else can the country/government do to help save money? let's step away from the public/private war and take a look at other ways that money can be saved, in the same way as you'd look at your own life & how you can save money if times are tight!

i'm not talking about *instead of* public sector pay cuts, i just mean in general what ideas do people have about money saving.

i don't want this to be another thread about public wages so lets stay away from that whole area!

things i was thinking of:

[*]cut back on government expenses (no one needs a limo or a 5 star hotel when the country is almost bankrupt)

Already being done.

[*]go back to the tradition of turning on the christmas lights on the 8th december (as far as i know in dublin the individual shops on certain streets pay for the actual lights, but the electricity bill falls to the city) - imagne how much extra money is spent on the electricity for these lights all over the country each year!

While it would be nice to bring back this tradition (personally, I like it), Businesses are trying to milk the most out of the season, so I don't expect any headway on that.

[

*]bin the metro north plans

Not going to happen in reality, not while the Greens are in govt anyway.

[*]look at reducing street lighting in places that it is excessive, without putting safety at risk

There is insufficient lighting as it is, the source of the power for these lights should be looked at though, to see if renewable resources can be harnessed for public lighting (I think it is in some areas)

[*]individual public sector workplaces can look at how money is possibly wasted by not switching off lights, PCs & other office equipment, paper wastage, excessive heating

Having just come from the Public Sector, this is already in effect, however some staff are not that compliant, so enforcement should be stricter.

i'm not saying this will save the country, i'm just trying to encourage thought flow on what money saving ways we're overlooking! every little helps at this stage :pac:

As someone on another thread pointed out to me, this thread will more than likely descend into the same 'blame game' that most of these threads fall into. Best of luck though!

token56

I appreciate that you have the best interests in mind with this thread but unforunately the severity of the situation is that the sort of changes you are proposing are simply not going to have any significant effective on the governement finances in the short to medium. This is not to say that ideas like this shouldn't be implemented, they should, especially the likes of reform of TD expenses etc.

And while it is good to for people to share their ideas for these type of savings, none of these smaller savings are going to make much of a difference unless decisions are made regarding the big areas i.e social welfare, capital expenditure and the public sector. I know people are bitterly divided on most of the issues, but they still need to be discussed.

To The North

token56 wrote: »

I know people are bitterly divided on most of the issues, but they still need to be discussed.

indeed they do, but there are so many threads about them already, it can't hurt to have a different sort of space to apply thinking to other methods too, no matter how small an amount it'd save. like i said at this stage every little counts (is that a tesco slogan? god dammit their advertising got stuck in mah brain!).

To The North

genericguy wrote: »

stop spending money on harp-shaped bridges.

agreed, it looks great but it's not worth it! do you remember when they built the spike there was apparently a protest by homeless people beside it saying the government were wasting millions on pointless monuments? how right they were!

robbie_998

To The North wrote: »

what else can we do

how about post in the right forum and get a decent answer ?

aftermn

With all the talk of strikes, how about another take on this.

Close down whole departments for a day. Those employed there, management and workers, get an extra day off, but don't get paid for it.

As long as it didn't happen too often, it shouldn't hurt individuals too hard.

Anyone any notion of how much would it save? How much does it cost to run the Detartment of Education for a day?

JuliusCaesar

To The North wrote: »

what else can the country/government do to help save money?

here.

Seems a decent plan to me. the only question is, how can we get rid of a government that won't listen to anyone? Do they represent us or not? And if they don't represent us - as they don't think they have to (how many TDs changed party, and thus the policy platform on which they stood for election, and DID NOT step down for re-election?) - what does this mean for democracy? This is what Chomsky called the democratic deficit.

One of the largest demonstrations of public feeling was against the Irish support for the US in their invasion of Iraq. Did this have any impact at all on FF? No. They are only in politics to help themselves and their cronies, and will put their own seat against the greater good - which has given rise to ludicrous decisions to benefit their own constituency rather than the country.

JuliusCaesar

JuliusCaesar wrote: »

here.

Seems a decent plan to me

It looks like a recipe for persistent long term unemployment of over 10%

ElaElaElano

El Weirdo wrote: »

Take advice from your username.

I was on my way here to say that very thing.

It's solid advice though. Up north they have cheap cigarettes, food and I'm told lovely paintings in various places to give the place a spark. If we all go up there and claim the social off the queen, it puts her out of pocket while expenditure falls dramatically in the south. Win win win.

kincsem

Mary Harney sponsored slim.

SoupyNorman

Pack up and go our separate ways.

aligator_am

Install fingerprint scanners in all post offices, a scan is mandatory if you wish to collect benefits / payouts.

I'm sure there are plenty of companies out there that would take this contract for a fraction the cost it would have been a couple of years ago. Possible problem with this is that from what I hear, some of the govt computer networks don't talk to each other very well This could possibly be administered by the Gards as it would be a roundabout way of getting a very large fingerprint database. (if you've nothing to hide then you've nothing to worry about )

Introduce chain gangs (seriously), no doubt the PC brigade and unions would have a fit though. Put the prisoners to work maintaining roads, working in fields (for growing bio fuel possibly?) If the taxpayer is expected to fork out wads of cash each year to maintain prisoners then it's only fair that they are put to good use.

Get rid of the 10pm closing times on off licences, will generate more income tax and more people will be buying booze, which would presumably bring in more tax take.

Stop spending millions on tribunals that take a decade to go anywhere and which make a select few filthy rich

SoupyNorman

Chain gangs, yes please.

Prison system underfunded? Make inmates earn the cash required for upgrades.

Bandit12

Call an election first and we'll take it from there.