Anything good to say about the Public Sector?

relax carry on

Just been reading through several threads which touch on the public sector and it got me thinking, does anyone actually have anything good to say about the Public and Civil Service?

So how about it, has anyone any genuine experience of good service from either the Public or Civil Service. To be clear, this thread is about actual good service and not an area to vent about waste, salaries etc. Also not a troll as I'm a civil servant and would like to hear someone say something good about us.

drdeadlift

popcorn time

chin_grin

drdeadlift wrote: »

popcorn time

Even better.

amacca

drdeadlift wrote: »

popcorn time

d'ya want a coke wid dat bud?

sheesh

Well at least they make the trains run on time...........

Benny_Cake

I'm also a civil servant - they pay me to do the job, so on a personal level that's something good! I've found that most of the people I've worked with here have a real sense of professionalism which gives the lie to many of the stereotypes - certainly as much as the private sector companies I've worked in.

drdeadlift

sheesh wrote: »

Well at least they make the trains run on time...........

How much was the ticket?

chin_grin

drdeadlift wrote: »

How much was the ticket?

Oh no you dih-nt!

drdeadlift

Benny_Cake wrote: »

I'm also a civil servant - they pay me to do the job, so on a personal level that's something good! I've found that most of the people I've worked with here have a real sense of professionalism which gives the lie to many of the stereotypes - certainly as much as the private sector companies I've worked in.

What exactly do you do?

Frank Black

Deal with people in the PS all the time through work - most of them hard-working dedicated individuals with just a few lazy workshy knobs.
The difference is, the workshy knobs would get fired from the private sector, but in the public sector they don't, and they end up giving everyone else a bad rep.

chin_grin

drdeadlift wrote: »

What exactly do you do?

And what's it to you?

neil_hosey

i broke my ankle a few months ago and i only had to wait in A and E for 12 hours!! it was amaze-balls!!

Freddie59

black francis wrote: »

The difference is, the workshy knobs would get fired from the private sector,

Not necessarily........

BraziliaNZ

I used to work there for years. I'm in a thriving internet based company now, and I'm doing a bit of work here and there, but I still sit on the internet all day, on boards, facebook, news sites etc, reading and chatting to my mates. I do sporadic bits of work. Had a meeting yesterday and my boss is really pleased with my progress and already talking about promotions. I'm getting paid more here than I was in the Irish civil service. At my last job in London I was doing even less.

Moral of the story. Ok civil servants have a rep for being lazy, not doing much, but since moving the the private sector, I'm doing less, and getting paid more, and my internet isn't locked down like it previously was, and nothing is monitored. Just sharing my experiences.

chin_grin

neil_hosey wrote: »

i broke my ankle a few months ago and i only had to wait in A and E for 12 hours!! it was amaze-balls!!

Should have been more careful then, shouldn't ya? :pac:

DrumSteve

If you take the L out of it, it would be called the Pubic Sector.

*Childish giggle*

kowloon

They do seem to get an excessive amount of hate. The public sector covers a lot of people with widely varying jobs. People seem to forget this when they go on rants about all those public sector workers with massive salaries and generous pensions. That and the fact that outrage sells the papers.

Julie London

The nurses in Regional Limerick delivered my lovely daughter safely. So thats a plus. But some of the nurses were rude. One in particular told me I had small nipples and my child was starving cos of them!, as I was trying to breastfeed. Really effected me.
Had to pay 250 to get my uncle seen privately as he was put on a 2 year long waiting list for severe ringing in his ears. Havent got much to say about consultants seeing as they charge 250 for a private consultation for most things I really have no respect for them.
Have no gripe with the guards as I have no exp with them.

chin_grin

Julie London wrote: »

The nurses in Regional Limerick delivered my lovely daughter safely. So thats a plus. But some of the nurses were rude. One in particular told me I had small nipples and my child was starving cos of them!, as I was trying to breastfeed. Really effected me.
Had to pay 250 to get my uncle seen privately as he was put on a 2 year long waiting list for severe ringing in his ears. Havent got much to say about consultants seeing as they charge 250 for a private consultation for most things I really have no respect for them.
Have no gripe with the guards as I have no exp with them.

So..............this nurse...............was she hot? Did she.............check them.............for you? <gets wah pedal>

bleg

Revenue are speedy.

Coronary problems in the emergency room are looked after very well.

ejmaztec

Julie London wrote: »

The nurses in Regional Limerick delivered my lovely daughter safely. .

How do they compare with DHL?

Stiffler2

No, absolutely nothing nice to say about them.
The public service is there to serve the public & imo shouldn't be allowed to turn a profit.

Average Wage of Public worker = €36,000
Average Wage of Private worker = €28,000

Public sector unions holds the government to ransom all the time unless they get their own way.

Example on why they shouldn't be allowed to turn a profit - eg - Dublin Bus
The Bus system should generate just enough cash to pay for the upkeep of the buses, pay salaries to bus drivers etc etc... just like a real business instead of being run into the ground.

Bla bla bla etc etc rant rant

Woops, I mean...... No - nothing nice to say

chin_grin

ejmaztec wrote: »

How do they compare with DHL?

Forseps behind IMO.

mathepac

This is just one of my recent experiences helping neighbours with various claims.

Joan was granted Disability Allnce (188 pw), Living-alone Allnce (7.70 pw) and fuel Allnce (20.00 pw) and on that basis applied for the House-hold Benefits Package (TV licence, Phone & ESB Allowance)

The TV licence was granted, ESB granted and backdated to the date of her claim, but the Phone Allnce was only granted from the current month.

With PAYG phones the problem is that the top-up vouchers don't identify the phone number and could be anyones. We got on to Tescos and they printed out a history of her top-ups including the phone no. the top-ups were applied to and I sent that in with any accompanying letter to the deciding officer.

Within a week Joan had the arrears on her Phone Allnce paid by cheque (€100 in time for Christmas). Fair play to Tescos (I have my differences with them from time to time) and the deciding officer in the Sligo House-hold Benefits section.

I have since discovered that for Tesco PAYG customers, if you register for the free web-texts, you can print and extract all kinds of information about your phone / account. It's a very useful facility.

Millicent

bleg wrote: »

Revenue are speedy.

+1 I've always found them massively helpful and friendly too. Really don't lve up to the evil taxman stereotype.

Noopti

DrumSteve wrote: »

If you take the L out of it, it would be called the Pubic Sector.

*Childish giggle*

And if you add an "s" to private sector you get the "privates sector".... :pac:

So Pubic vs Privates - it's all the same, can't we just all get along???

StephenHendry

work in the p.s. , have dealt with some really good, professional people who do their job very well. then on the other hand some you'd describe as 'workshy' to put it mildly. im sure there's those in every organisations. whatever people say about the ps, we deliver some really essential services like housing, education, welfare, health etc.

DaveNoCheese

Millicent wrote: »

+1 I've always found them massively helpful and friendly too. Really don't lve up to the evil taxman stereotype.

I work with the big bad tax man and tis nice to hear that tbh.

The public sector as a whole gets awful publicity!

pow wow

Revenue are a bajillion times more efficient than their British counterparts and at least the recruitment freeze means some bolshy 17 year-old with attitude problems doesn't answer your call like they do in the UK.

Nowt complimentary to add about the rest of the PS

woodoo

One good thing about the public service is that is is lucky enough to have a super employee like me.

seamus

Revenue & CRO are good. They're efficient at their work and quick to embrace technologies which improve efficiency.

Other public sector workers can be...less so. I remember chatting to a woman in her 50's very late one evening at a party, she was a radiographer in a hospital. I told her what I do and in an effort to summarise/condense it down, I told her that I look at very manual and time-consuming processes and work out ways to automate them and make them quicker.
She instantly stiffened and told me, "Ooh I don't like that. You put people out of jobs". :rolleyes:

I think the main problem with the public sector is the unions moreso than the workers themselves. Unions harp on about theirs ideas of right and entitlements, but rarely address the responsibilities of the workers. I've worked on contract for a university and what struck me there was very much the attitude of, "I'm taking everything that I'm entitled to in my contract, and never doing the tiniest bit of work more than I have to".
This comes down to ridiculous things like a 30-minute "breakfast break" 20 minutes after you start, another 15-minute break at 11am, followed by a 90 minute lunch at 1pm, followed by another 15-minute break at 3.45pm, then you go home at 5.
There's never any question of anyone taking their breaks. I once said, "Nah I'm grand I'll stay here", rather than spend 15 minutes sitting in the canteen struggling to find things to talk about, and I was looked at like I had 12 heads.
It's a union thing, an us -v- them attitude that unions like to push in these workplaces to ensure that staff always think the management are trying to screw them.

In the private sector, I've only seen this same attitude in union workplaces. In non-union workplaces, the staff treatment is just as good (if not better), but nobody feels this sense that you must take every break you're entitled to. If you need a break, you take a break. If you have something to do, then you do it.

Arawn

Looks at amount of prison officers that caught tb this year..... checks for amount of law suits brought about by it.



Yeah they get the job done.

later12

CRO?
Hmm not sure about that, I know people in business who have had some really awful experiences with the CRO failing to do its job, but this is a 'good things to say' thread.

Revenue is the clear winner here. In my experience, they handle their cases with efficiency and professionalism that (as a private sector worker in the financial services) constantly impresses me. As well as this they have bloody good customer service, despite the amount of difficulties they must face and the complexity of the work that they carry out.

I know that Revenue wasn't always like this, back when it was The revenue Commissioners, and whoever is responsible for the reforms is somebody that the public service should be extremely proud of.

Benny_Cake

drdeadlift wrote: »

Benny_Cake wrote: »

I'm also a civil servant - they pay me to do the job, so on a personal level that's something good! I've found that most of the people I've worked with here have a real sense of professionalism which gives the lie to many of the stereotypes - certainly as much as the private sector companies I've worked in.

What exactly do you do?

Could tell you but I'd have to kill you and everyone else who reads this...

kowloon

Stiffler2 wrote: »

The Bus system should generate just enough cash to pay for the upkeep of the buses, pay salaries to bus drivers etc etc... just like a real business

Real businesses don't turn a profit? Hope the shareholders don't find out!

Millicent

seamus wrote: »

I've worked on contract for a university and what struck me there was very much the attitude of, "I'm taking everything that I'm entitled to in my contract, and never doing the tiniest bit of work more than I have to".
This comes down to ridiculous things like a 30-minute "breakfast break" 20 minutes after you start, another 15-minute break at 11am, followed by a 90 minute lunch at 1pm, followed by another 15-minute break at 3.45pm, then you go home at 5.
There's never any question of anyone taking their breaks. I once said, "Nah I'm grand I'll stay here", rather than spend 15 minutes sitting in the canteen struggling to find things to talk about, and I was looked at like I had 12 heads.
It's a union thing, an us -v- them attitude that unions like to push in these workplaces to ensure that staff always think the management are trying to screw them.

In the private sector, I've only seen this same attitude in union workplaces. In non-union workplaces, the staff treatment is just as good (if not better), but nobody feels this sense that you must take every break you're entitled to. If you need a break, you take a break. If you have something to do, then you do it.

To be honest, I had that attitude in retail. I worked hard but my breaks were my own and God help anyone that annoyed me on my break. I wouldn't criticise anyone for availing of their entitlements. That said, if they're that excessive, they should be changed.

HavingCrack

pow wow wrote: »

Revenue are a bajillion times more efficient than their British counterparts and at least the recruitment freeze means some bolshy 17 year-old with attitude problems doesn't answer your call like they do in the UK.

Nowt complimentary to add about the rest of the PS

Revenue are honestly some of the most helpful people I've ever come across. Whoever reformed that department ought to be proud. The CSO and Fire Service have also both been extremely helpful and efficient when I worked for and dealt with them. Guards have been extremely hit and miss, some very good, some very poor-likewise with teachers and hospital staff. The Passport Office....well...

Benny_Cake

seamus wrote: »

I think the main problem with the public sector is the unions moreso than the workers themselves. Unions harp on about theirs ideas of right and entitlements, but rarely address the responsibilities of the workers. I've worked on contract for a university and what struck me there was very much the attitude of, "I'm taking everything that I'm entitled to in my contract, and never doing the tiniest bit of work more than I have to".
This comes down to ridiculous things like a 30-minute "breakfast break" 20 minutes after you start, another 15-minute break at 11am, followed by a 90 minute lunch at 1pm, followed by another 15-minute break at 3.45pm, then you go home at 5.
There's never any question of anyone taking their breaks. I once said, "Nah I'm grand I'll stay here", rather than spend 15 minutes sitting in the canteen struggling to find things to talk about, and I was looked at like I had 12 heads.

That policy in relation to breaks is ludicrous,in my job you can take a break in the morning if you like,but there is certainly nothing in writing about it afaik.I would often take a mid-morning break, but I wouldn't if things were busy, or if I was in a sh***y mood and didn't feel like talking to anyone. As soon as you make something like that almost compulsory, it doesn't feel like a privilege anymore and feels more like yet another duty of the job.

With regard to unions,as much as people complain about them, they do serve a purpose,although it often only becomes clear when you really need them.One important reason would be in a case of bullying or harassment, sadly I have seen this happen to people and without the union they simply wouldn't have been able to fight their own corner. An "us and them" attitude is as likely to come from management as it is from employees. I do have two main complaints with the public service unions: the professional union bosses who are making multiples of what the workers they are supposed to represent earn; and the fact that they completely took their eyes off the ball in the middle of the last decade and pursued pay rises rather than pressing the government to tackle the outrageous cost of living. That is not to say that unions aren't necessary - a lot of private sector companies have excellent relations with unions.

HavingCrack

seamus wrote: »

In the private sector, I've only seen this same attitude in union workplaces. In non-union workplaces, the staff treatment is just as good (if not better), but nobody feels this sense that you must take every break you're entitled to. If you need a break, you take a break. If you have something to do, then you do it.

In Ireland this is most definately the case but my experience working in the US made me thankful for unions and Irish labour laws (without the ridiculous excesses you pointed out). The explotation in some private US firms of workers was obscene. In the state I was working in there was no law mandating lunch breaks so many employers simply refused employees the time off to eat in 12 hour shifts. I'm far from a socialist but the explotation of people who were on the breadline was pretty shocking.

slarkin123

The gardai. - I have a fair bit of dealings with them and they are nothing but lovely and polite. The garda band was at our school last week and the kids loved every minute of it.

The nurses and doctors - I have 3 healthy babies thanks to them. During my stay in hospital they were very helpful and friendly. My son had a major problem when he was 5 months old and they sorted him out. They deal with a lot of ****e and i certainly don't envy their job.

Waste management - Great bunch of lads for collecting other peoples dumped crap.

Teachers - Can only go on the few i know from the local school but they are all young and enthusiastic. They always do what's best for the children. And put so much thought and effort into the likes of school trips, communions shows that the kids actually love doing it.

I never had any dealings with the staff in the dole offices so i can't speak about them.

donalg1

Julie London wrote: »

The nurses in Regional Limerick delivered my lovely daughter safely. So thats a plus. But some of the nurses were rude. One in particular told me I had small nipples and my child was starving cos of them!, as I was trying to breastfeed. Really effected me.
Had to pay 250 to get my uncle seen privately as he was put on a 2 year long waiting list for severe ringing in his ears. Havent got much to say about consultants seeing as they charge 250 for a private consultation for most things I really have no respect for them.
Have no gripe with the guards as I have no exp with them.

Stick up a few pics of your nipples and we will judge the size of them

44leto

I think the defence forces do a good job, they are not overly paid, they do their duties, they are well disciplined and you don't hear them moaning to much about it,

relax carry on

Thanks for the mainly positive posts. Especially nice to hear all the good reports on Revenue as I work for them. Hopefully 2012 might deliver some more positivity.

TeddyTedson

The people you ring about tax are and have always been great to me on the phone. Very friendly, polite and helpful.

44leto

Another unsung heroes of the PS who I think do a brilliant job are the people who maintain our public parks. They are always in top condition and our parks are quite beautiful.

They all have lovely bottoms.

Nolanger

The Irish Film Board do a good job of investing taxpayers' money in films that lose money and then cover it up so that not many people notice!

44leto

Nolanger wrote: »

The Irish Film Board do a good job of investing taxpayers' money in films that lose money and then cover it up so that not many people notice!

I don't agree I think Irish films punch above our weight, there has been some shyte but there also has been some good ones as well.

Besides the movie industry is notoriously risky, look at the amount of big budget flops come out of Hollywood.

Eric Cartman

Ahh the civil service isnt that bad, they keep some of the most underqualified , lazy people in the country off the dole stats

super_furry

I broke my wrist last Friday. Went to St James A&E at 11pm and was assessed, x-rayed, put in plaster and given a prescription all within three hours. All the people I dealt with were wonderful.

Outkast_IRE

anytime i deal with revenue they are very professional and quick in responses .