Who do you think is performing well in government?

Sergeant

adocholiday wrote: »

Waiting lists are down according to that article. Are hospital conditions any better? I have many family members in the healthcare profession. Let me tell you that hospitals in this country are a disgrace. Waiting lists are not as important as the overall conditions in our hospitals. Just look at the two scandals in Tallagh hospital regarding scans and xrays - put down to old, outdated equipment. Yep Reilly is doing a great job. The HSE is still completely overstaffed in the admin staff and understaffed in the frontline. It is a completely dysfunctional organisation from the top down.

Shatter is a clown. Look at the state of our justice system, look at the gangland activity going on in Dublin that's practically not policable anymore. You can't argue that he is doing a good job. He isn't.

My 'anecdotal ramblings' are firmly based in reality. It's you that's in cuckoo land if you think that this Government is doing a good job!

How would you continue to operate the health, education and justice systems (including the salaries and pensions of those working within them) at the levels they reached during the Celtic Tiger, while also addressing the 12 billion gap between what we pay out as opposed to what is paid in?

Any suggestions?

Augmerson

Sergeant wrote: »

How would you continue to operate the health, education and justice systems (including the salaries and pensions of those working within them) at the levels they reached during the Celtic Tiger, while also addressing the 12 billion gap between what we pay out as opposed to what is paid in?

Any suggestions?

You've done this bit before. You don't have to provide a 100% foolproof and correct vision for government policy just because you also criticize the current government policy.

Yitzhak Rabin, your posts are a laughable now, you've exposed yourself as very pro-blueshirt. Take it to the Politics forum. See how far you get there.

mikom

Who is the minister for troll threads?

Da Shins Kelly

Sergeant wrote: »

Ya, the people handing us out big wads of money so we can continue to have a world-class social welfare system and a generously paid public sector. What would you suggest the government have done instead? Default?

Worked out for Iceland.

Sergeant

Da Shins Kelly wrote: »

Worked out for Iceland.

No it didn't. Yet more spin.

Sergeant

Augmerson wrote: »

You've done this bit before. You don't have to provide a 100% foolproof and correct vision for government policy just because you also criticize the current government policy.

Yitzhak Rabin, your posts are a laughable now, you've exposed yourself as very pro-blueshirt. Take it to the Politics forum. See how far you get there.

No, absolutely. But it helps to have some understanding of the reality.

moon_man

Da Shins Kelly wrote: »

Worked out for Iceland.

the people of iceland endured a very large deceleration of their incomes in order to survive the default route they chose , their currency also weakened sharply and quickly , on the bright side , they got their pain out of the way quick and avoided saddling the country with banker debts for several generations

unfortunatley the goverment in this country would never have had the guts to enforce the kind of instant austerity required to survive a default , mass strikes , extra joe duffys employed to listen to all the pensioners moaning about being cut 100 euro per week etc

tayto lover

hawkelady wrote: »

You think Kenny is articulate and a true leader.
I'll tell you what he is , remember when he told us that it's not our fault and then fecked off and told Europe that it was our fault . Then he got all scruffed up by the French pres like he was a prize poodle!!!

Kenny is two faced and has as much charisma as a wet plank !!!

He's even afraid to face Vincent Browne and refuses to go on his show.

tayto lover

Big Bottom wrote: »

O'Reilly does have an incredibly difficult job and he gets no credit for his efforts whatsoever.
id like to see some of the begrudgers on here try it.

Give me his money and perks and i'll fcuk it up just as good as he is doing.

tayto lover

Sergeant wrote: »

It has been a solid, if unspectacular, performance from the Government to date. They came to power in extraordinary circumstances, with the country on the very edge of an economic precipice. They have managed to restore some confidence in this regard, and inward investment is far above the European average. The local economy remains sluggish, and they failed to make the type of substantial changes needed to the Croke Park agreement to tackle our extraordinary public service wage and pension bill. But money doesn't grow on trees - which may come as a surprise to various socialists and keynesians.

Other highlights for me are:

Kenny's wonderful speech to the Dáil criticising the various cover-ups by the Catholic Church. It was emotive, passionate and very much overdue.
The visit by the Queen of the UK&NI.
The apology issued to the victims of the Magdalene laundries. Yet another emotive speech from a man who has bags on integrity, if not exactly a formidable intellect.
A change to the conditions of the promissory note issued against the former Anglo.

I'd give them a solid 7.5 of out ten.

You forgot to mention their great success at job creation and how they manged to increase emigration.

hawkelady

Yitzhak Rabin wrote: »

I'm just reading over the morning papers with a glass of orange juice and a croissant.

It seems I'm not the only one impressed with Mr. Kenny. None other than Barack Obama, leader of the free world, has noted the "great leadership of the Taoiseach in difficult times"

High praise I think everyone can agree.

Your still spouting I see, Mr Rabin...

Obama also said the exact same thing when Brian Cowen was celebrating in the White House a few years ago. So it stands to reason that you thought Cowen was an exceptional leader too, no??

Your comments are like a boil on the arse, even when you sit down to relax , it's still an irritant .. Please tell me you made up this thread as a joke.
Either that or you actually are Mr Kenny , puttin out the feelers of the mood of the nation.
Don't fret a about it, your pension is in the bag now so you can get back to doing what you were at ....................... Nothing.

Dwork

Uriel. wrote: »

I'm far from a public service defender and serious reform is absolutely needed.

At the same time I actually do think you are wrong.I think you are wrong because either you don't look at or you don't understand the broader picture in terms of governance and policy making. While you can certainly compare some areas of public and private sector, the simple fact is that the public service is at a macro level a far different machine than the private sector. The public service are involved in significant areas of work that the private sector isn't involved nor wants to be involved nor could be involves in.

Some of that work requires a senior management simple as that. The public sector deals with all manner of national, European and international policy issues and working in such areas can often require management staff rather than front line.

That's a deflection. The vast majority simply provide a service to the public. Usually slowly, badly, expensively and grossly top-heavily. As for the policy makers, if it is all "management level work", surely then the "managers" are just the workers as you hardly need another manager to manage the managers? The pay grade of the work might be higher, but the requirement for management remains the same.

In general,too few frontline workers doing too much for too little and too many admin/managers doing too little, for too much - and none of them does it for long enough in an average week(and don't fling Junior doctors into this, they're an exception) IMO

Dwork

Yitzhak Rabin wrote: »

Absolute scutter you just posted there I'm afraid!



http://s2.jrnl.ie/media/2012/10/enda-kenny-time-375x500.jpg 'nuff said!



Nonsense again...

http://www.dohc.ie/press/releases/2012/20121018.html





http://www.irishtimes.com/news/most-crime-figures-down-but-burglaries-and-fraud-on-the-rise-1.1069671





The rest of your post is just anecdotal ramblings not based in reality. The data speaks for itself. All the headlines are saying the same thing: - "Fine Gael: A great bunch of lads..."

If you keep up the "Happy FG fanboy" posts, more people are going to stop taking anything you post seriously. It's a bit OTT. Ever heard of "Balance"?

Red Pepper

tayto lover wrote: »

He's even afraid to face Vincent Browne and refuses to go on his show.

It would be car crash TV. Vincent would take him apart.

Sergeant

The result of the by-election in Meath East shows that while people are suffering, they still believe that the Government are taking the proper course of action in getting us out of the mess created by successive FF led governments.

It was a ringing endorsement for moderate centre-right politics. People saw that parties like Sinn Fein espousing cutting nothing and raising nothing extra through revenue gathering exercises is the type of stuff that belongs in Loola Land. That's why they only had a 3% rise in their vote over the last General Election.

Well done to the people of Meath East.

bgrizzley

Sergeant wrote: »

The result of the by-election in Meath East shows that while people are suffering, they still believe that the Government are taking the proper course of action in getting us out of the mess created by successive FF led governments.

It was a ringing endorsement for moderate centre-right politics. People saw that parties like Sinn Fein espousing cutting nothing and raising nothing extra through revenue gathering exercises is the type of stuff that belongs in Loola Land. That's why they only had a 3% rise in their vote over the last General Election.

Well done to the people of Meath East.

it was a sympathy vote...

Sergeant

bgrizzley wrote: »

it was a sympathy vote...

That explains why parties of the centre-right secured over 70% of the vote?

The radicals and the loony left appeal to a certain portion of the electorate. It, thankfully, isn't a very large percentage of people.

stmol32

I think Helen McEntee is doing a bang up job.
She hasn't put a foot wrong since she became a member of the Dail.

Sergeant

stmol32 wrote: »

I think Helen McEntee is doing a bang up job.
She hasn't put a foot wrong since she became a member of the Dail.

That might have been funnier in your head.

It's good to see bright and engaging young people get involved in politics. Putting yourself forward in front of the electorate, especially during extremely challenging economic times, cannot be easy.

Artful_Badger

Sergeant wrote: »

The result of the by-election in Meath East shows that while people are suffering, they still believe that the Government are taking the proper course of action in getting us out of the mess created by successive FF led governments.

It was a ringing endorsement for moderate centre-right politics. People saw that parties like Sinn Fein espousing cutting nothing and raising nothing extra through revenue gathering exercises is the type of stuff that belongs in Loola Land. That's why they only had a 3% rise in their vote over the last General Election.

Well done to the people of Meath East.

Her daddy died and she got his seat. Same old story of lack of viable candidates. Not exactly the ringing endorsement for moderate centre-right politics you think it is. Talk about Loola Land

Sergeant

Artful_Badger wrote: »

Her daddy died and she got his seat. Same old story of lack of viable candidates. Not exactly the ringing endorsement for moderate centre-right politics you think it is. Talk about Loola Land

There was candidates from all major parties, the usual assortment of lefties, and a couple of independents. The people of Meath East had plenty of options. Yet 70% of voters went for centre-right candidates. Why is that?

What type of candidate would you consider viable?

Bullseye1

Sergeant wrote: »

That explains why parties of the centre-right secured over 70% of the vote?

The radicals and the loony left appeal to a certain portion of the electorate. It, thankfully, isn't a very large percentage of people.

FF got over 30% and the winner got approx 38%. It tells you there are people with very short memories and the winner got in by default. If it had been any over candidate running for FG we may have seen a victory for FF. we have learnt nothing new.

We do know however that the government parties both got less than 50% of the vote which is hardly a ringing endorsement. Saying anything different is spin doctoring.

Yitzhak Rabin

I see the left as usual can't read the writing on the wall, which is obvious to every right-minded individual.

In the midst of a major crisis, with the government slashing (by necessity) public services and upping (by necessity) taxes, they still secured the seat.

That says exactly what I outlined in my OP. People know FG are doing a great job and they want them to continue.

A coup for the blues and an utter failure for the green of SF and the grey of the left.

Artful_Badger

Sergeant wrote: »

There was candidates from all major parties, the usual assortment of lefties, and a couple of independents. The people of Meath East had plenty of options. Yet 70% of voters went for centre-right candidates. Why is that?

What type of candidate would you consider viable?

And if Mary Lou McDonald was running in that constituency would the % be distributed as it was ? Course it wouldnt, because people dont vote for policies they vote for candidates. Its the same in every constituency and its the reason Mick Wallace is paying off his bills with the tax payers dime and all the same old faces are back in the Dail.

Its a popularity contest and McEntee was the most popular not her parties policies. I'm not saying she wont do a good job or doesnt deserve the seat but anyone who actually thinks the voting in these things is indicative of the view of party policies is off their head.

Bullseye1

Sergeant wrote: »

That might have been funnier in your head.

It's good to see bright and engaging young people get involved in politics. Putting yourself forward in front of the electorate, especially during extremely challenging economic times, cannot be easy.

I've nothing against the girl. Maybe she will be a fine TD but she had nothing to lose and there was no pressure on her. No one would suggest she had anything to do with the previous FF administration and therefore she was unlikely to get backlash at the doorstep. I'd say the opposite infact due to the death of her father.

I'm all for younger candidates entering the Dail let's hope they can make some difference as the old brigade have had their chance.

Sergeant

Artful_Badger wrote: »

And if Mary Lou McDonald was running in that constituency would the % be distributed as it was ?

But she didn't run in the constituency. It's an apples and oranges comparison.

The fact of the matter is that FG won the seat and FF made significant gains. This was in-line with all recent opinion polls. From reading AH you'd assume that people are just short of storming the Dáil and initiating a glorious revolution of the people. The reality, as has been shown today, is much different.

No one enjoys austerity, but the vote yesterday shows that the vast majority of the people in Meath East (and therefore the country) have rejected the utter gibberish and populist nonsense of Sinn Fein and the gibbering Left.

Artful_Badger

Sergeant wrote: »

But she didn't run in the constituency. It's an apples and oranges comparison.

The fact of the matter is that FG won the seat and FF made significant gains. This was in-line with all recent opinion polls. From reading AH you'd assume that people are just short of storming the Dáil and initiating a glorious revolution of the people. The reality, as has been shown today, is much different.

No one enjoys austerity, but the vote yesterday shows that the vast majority of the people in Meath East (and therefore the country) have rejected the utter gibberish and populist nonsense of Sinn Fein and the gibbering Left.

Today didnt show anything other than a candidate getting their fathers seat in the Dail. Not exactly going against the grain of how politics works in this country to fortify the governments position.

But yeah, carry on having a go at the gibbering looney left after the huge victory for centre right politics that was a young girl elected to her recently dead fathers Dail seat. I'd be surprised if SF didnt pack it in altogether after such a clear message form Meath East as to the nations contempt for their policies. :rolleyes:

Yitzhak Rabin

Artful_Badger wrote: »

Today didnt show anything other than a candidate getting their fathers seat in the Dail. Not exactly going against the grain of how politics works in this country to fortify the governments position.

But yeah, carry on having a go at the gibbering looney left after the huge victory for centre right politics that was a young girl elected to her recently dead fathers Dail seat. I'd be surprised if SF didnt pack it in altogether after such a clear message form Meath East as to the nations contempt for their policies. :rolleyes:

Do you not find it even mildly concerning that in the middle of a massive crisis, with a government that are engaging in unprecedented austerity, that the left completely failed to capitalise?

Sergeant

Artful_Badger wrote: »

Today didnt show anything other than a candidate getting their fathers seat in the Dail. Not exactly going against the grain of how politics works in this country to fortify the governments position.

But yeah, carry on having a go at the gibbering looney left after the huge victory for centre right politics that was a young girl elected to her recently dead fathers Dail seat. I'd be surprised if SF didnt pack it in altogether after such a clear message form Meath East as to the nations contempt for their policies. :rolleyes:

Explain the opinion polls then? Or the lack of a statistically significant rise in the vote for SF? Are you saying that this - supposed - groundswell of anger didn't vote for something they believed in out of empathy?

The hard left don't do empathy. A quick browse through the last 60 years of history shows this. It's based on anger, resentment and jealousy.

Artful_Badger

Yitzhak Rabin wrote: »

Do you not find it even mildly concerning that in the middle of a massive crisis, with a government that are engaging in unprecedented austerity, that the left completely failed to capitalise?

Whats to be concerned about ? I'm disappointed they didnt come up with a more agreeable alternative but the election in Meath East doesnt reflect peoples rejection of what they do propose no more than it reflects peoples confidence in the government.

As I said it was a popularity contest and a young girl going for her dead fathers seat won it. You mentioned right minded individuals in your last post, are you seriously telling me anyone in their right mind would look at that and think she got those votes solely for her parties policies ??