Stupid System. Stupid Country

Sosurface

So I had to sit the motorcycle theory test today. This involved first going to get passport type photos done. Not free of course. Then attend the test centre, complete the test, seperate fee for this too. Test complete its off to the opticians. Another form, another test, another fee. Then you have to attend a licence centre or whatever its called, again in a different location. Another form, another fee and they POST the licence out.All the while zig zagging across town to these stupid places.

What the actual f*ck like? Is there a more stupid, wasteful system in operation anywhere? Seems like the only goal being achieved here is letting as many sticky fingers as possible get a slice of the pie.

Next up is "mandatory" IBT 2 day course at €400 which of course is located a convenient €40 taxi fare away from the city centre with no public transport available.

tomwaterford

Could you not drive to the course on the motorbike??





Congratulations on passing btw

368100

Sosurface wrote: »

So I had to sit the motorcycle theory test today. This involved first going to get passport type photos done. Not free of course. Then attend the test centre, complete the test, seperate fee for this too. Test complete its off to the opticians. Another form, another test, another fee. Then you have to attend a licence centre or whatever its called, again in a different location. Another form, another fee and they POST the licence out.All the while zig zagging across town to these stupid places.

What the actual f*ck like? Is there a more stupid, wasteful system in operation anywhere? Seems like the only goal being achieved here is letting as many sticky fingers as possible get a slice of the pie.

Next up is "mandatory" IBT 2 day course at €400 which of course is located a convenient €40 taxi fare away from the city centre with no public transport available.

Yup, sounds about right....no joined up thinking. Imagine the time and money that could be saved if they sorted the likes of all this out......it's rife in public services, private sector can't afford to have customers doing this as they wouldn't have them very long.

listermint

So you decided to get a motorbike and expect it all to happen in a day..

.. well I suppose planning isn't a strong suit there is imagine.

Plan to do well in the ibt if you are this impatient with just getting a picture for a license and doing a theory test I suggest you listen clearly to the instructor's of the necessity for patience in a motorbike.

PirateShampoo

Are you trying to suggest we have local district centers which do all these things under one roof?

Pass me what ever your smoking ya big fool ya.

Beyondgone

listermint wrote: »

So you decided to get a motorbike and expect it all to happen in a day..

.. well I suppose planning isn't a strong suit there is imagine.

Plan to do well in the ibt if you are this impatient with just getting a picture for a license and doing a theory test I suggest you listen clearly to the instructor's of the necessity for patience in a motorbike.

He/she has a point. You, not so much.

Half this country seems to be making a living from getting the other half to jump through hoops to get pieces of paper in order to make their own living. Boils my p155.

Samuel T. Cogley

368100 wrote: »

Yup, sounds about right....no joined up thinking. Imagine the time and money that could be saved if they sorted the likes of all this out......it's rife in public services, private sector can't afford to have customers doing this as they wouldn't have them very long.

Have you been a customer of Sky, Virgin, Eir, Vodafone, 3, pretty much any other Telco, owned a car or bought a house?

infogiver

I work with a lot of Eastern Europeans and they tell me that they thought there was a lot of form filling under the old regime at home, but it pales in comparison to here.

Sosurface

tomwaterford wrote: »

Could you not drive to the course on the motorbike??





Congratulations on passing btw

Yes. And indeed I will to be perfectly honest. BUT to follow the letter of the law, tgat is of course illegal.

Sosurface

listermint wrote: »

So you decided to get a motorbike and expect it all to happen in a day..

.. well I suppose planning isn't a strong suit there is imagine.

Plan to do well in the ibt if you are this impatient with just getting a picture for a license and doing a theory test I suggest you listen clearly to the instructor's of the necessity for patience in a motorbike.

Yeah I know I mean imagine trying to fit testing booths, some simple opticians equipment, a front desk and a camera in the one building. Tis practically sci-fi sure.

368100

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

Have you been a customer of Sky, Virgin, Eir, Vodafone, 3, pretty much any other Telco, owned a car or bought a house?

Yes....but you have alternatives to dealing with any of the above that are private sector. More often than not you've no alternative to public sector services.

What's owning a care or buying a house got to do with it? I've done both.

And I've been a customer of sky, Vodafone & 3. never filled out a paper form with them a sign up to services generally easy and efficient. It's the customer service once they have you that tends to be ****e

Pelvis

There's plenty of IBT instructors accessible by public transport, some are even walking distance from the city centre!

Also, I hope you don't have a car license, because if you do and did your theory test before 2006, you didn't need to do it again!

buried

Wait till you have to get the insurance. Another racket of do nothing leeching prats who in any other century would be "working" in a ditch committing highway robbery until they got caught and hanged

s4uv3

Ireland's great. You shut up.

Sosurface

Pelvis wrote: »

There's plenty of IBT instructors accessible by public transport, some are even walking distance from the city centre!

Also, I hope you don't have a car license, because if you do and did your theory test before 2006, you didn't need to do it again!

Not everyone in Ireland, indeed not everyone who lives somewhere with a city centre in Ireland(however relatively small), lives in Dublin.

Will I Am Not

Beyondgone wrote: »

He/she has a point. You, not so much.

Half this country seems to be making a living from getting the other half to jump through hoops to get pieces of paper in order to make their own living. Boils my p155.

I had to pay a tenner for one of those forms.

Beyondgone

The Fake Sheikh wrote: »

I had to pay a tenner for one of those forms.

You got off cheap. Try getting Form BJ69 - they ride you altogether when you go in for one of them.

Cee-Jay-Cee

Think of the number ofpeople that would be out of work if they were to do things simpler, more efficiently and cheaper. We couldn't have that. It's actually very typical of this country, if there is a more difficult costly way of doing something then that is the way it'll be done, every fcuking time.

Permabear

This post has been deleted.

TheDriver

Bring back the good ol days of simply filling out a form for a provisional, no theory test etc. Nice to have all te letters on back of licence

pickarooney

Permabear wrote: »

This post had been deleted.

You're undoing 50 years of television tropes by using DMV and 'saves time' in the same sentence!

Sam Kade

Sosurface wrote: »

So I had to sit the motorcycle theory test today. This involved first going to get passport type photos done. Not free of course. Then attend the test centre, complete the test, seperate fee for this too. Test complete its off to the opticians. Another form, another test, another fee. Then you have to attend a licence centre or whatever its called, again in a different location. Another form, another fee and they POST the licence out.All the while zig zagging across town to these stupid places.

What the actual f*ck like? Is there a more stupid, wasteful system in operation anywhere? Seems like the only goal being achieved here is letting as many sticky fingers as possible get a slice of the pie.

Next up is "mandatory" IBT 2 day course at ?400 which of course is located a convenient ?40 taxi fare away from the city centre with no public transport available.

So how does all that make the country stupid?

suicide_circus

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

Think of the number ofpeople that would be out of work if they were to do things simpler, more efficiently and cheaper. We couldn't have that. It's actually very typical of this country, if there is a more difficult costly way of doing something then that is the way it'll be done, every fcuking time.

This is it in a nutshell.

Remember, every time someone points out some gobsmacking inefficiency or rip off in ireland, you need look no further for the cause than your friends, family and neighbours or indeed the mirror. We as a people indulge in a nod and a wink culture of jobs for the boys and vested interests. Inconvenience, inefficiency, waste and suffering are A-OK as long as I'm alright with my job for life and gold plated pension.

Hal1

We need standardised systems in this country, i.e. the same across the board for all nations in the e.u.
Motoring, healthcare, insurance, taxation, etc.

petes

Sosurface wrote: »

Yeah I know I mean imagine trying to fit testing booths, some simple opticians equipment, a front desk and a camera in the one building. Tis practically sci-fi sure.

I agree with everything except the optician's equipment.

Sosurface

Sam Kade wrote: »

So how does all that make the country stupid?

Case in point....

A Battered Mars Bar

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Nuh nuh nuh vrmp

nice_guy80

Like everything else in Ireland the steps in the process are farmed out to the 'private sector'

Instead of the state providing the service

That's why the private sector in Ireland secretly loves the state system

El Weirdo

Why did you need to get passport photos? When I renewed my licence last year, the photo was taken there and then.

Sosurface

El Weirdo wrote: »

Why did you need to get passport photos? When I renewed my licence last year, the photo was taken there and then.

I have no idea but it specifies it on the website and appointment confirmation email. They then took one of the photos and stuck with some tape to a card and laminated the card.

_Brian

If you don't like tue country or the system there are three legitimate options.
Get elected and do something about it, move the **** away, or shut up with the moaning.

While we don't live in an ideal system Ireland is a great country where we enjoy great facilities and wonderful freedoms, public healthcare is good, education is good, and in general it's safe to go about your business.

Big swing, you had to make a few trips to get what you needed.

Hardly worth taking to the internet over it !!

Badly Drunk Boy

Sam Kade wrote: »

So how does all that make the country stupid?

Because unqualified and blind people should be allowed on motorbikes. And we're at fault.

When I wanted my passport renewed recently, I closed my eyes, clicked my heels thrice...but the new one didn't appear in front of me immediately...

Sosurface

The ostriches have appeared. A great little country. To be sure. To be sure.

Squatter

Badly Drunk Boy wrote: »

When I wanted my passport renewed recently, I closed my eyes, clicked my heels thrice...but the new one didn't appear in front of me immediately...

I actually did renew my passport online last week - and it didn't take much more than ten mouse clicks and a smartphone photo taken by my missus.

A fantastic service from DFA, the new ppt arrived by express post only 5 working days after I first applied.

Sosurface

_Brian wrote: »

If you don't like tue country or the system there are three legitimate options.
Get elected and do something about it, move the **** away, or shut up with the moaning.

While we don't live in an ideal system Ireland is a great country where we enjoy great facilities and wonderful freedoms, public healthcare is good, education is good, and in general it's safe to go about your business.

Big swing, you had to make a few trips to get what you needed.

Hardly worth taking to the internet over it !!

Public healthcare is good? Oh boy you live in one insulated laa laa land. Another story for another thread. Education is good? If you happen to be a practicing catholic who doesnt deviate frim the norm in any possible way and are willing to accept that free is not always free by the Irish definition and voluntary doesnt exactly mean the same thing here either. What great facilities are available to the average citizen? Especially those not based in/around Dublin?

dirtyden

_Brian wrote: »

If you don't like tue country or the system there are three legitimate options.
Get elected and do something about it, move the **** away, or shut up with the moaning.

While we don't live in an ideal system Ireland is a great country where we enjoy great facilities and wonderful freedoms, public healthcare is good, education is good, and in general it's safe to go about your business.

Big swing, you had to make a few trips to get what you needed.

Hardly worth taking to the internet over it !!

Spot on.

Someone moaning about needing an eye test so that we know they are safe on the road, and whinging as they have to pay for it? There are a lot of whingers in this country who need to do a little bit of growing up.

BlinkingLights

Op: if you think Irish bureaucracy is excessive, never, ever, ever move to France or Belgium!!

Any dealings with the local administration systems needed about two days off work.

Ireland is an efficient dream of a place on comparison.

I also had the nightmarish experience of applying for a Spanish version of a PPS.
You simply had to make an appointment with the police. Bring all your forms in triplicate. Any error in this and you'd wait another 2 months for a second appointment as they wouldn't offer any kind of photocopying facility. You also had to queue down the street in the rain, go through metal detectors and for added intimation, they had two police officers walking up and down with Alsatians!

Dirty Dingus McGee

Sosurface wrote: »

So I had to sit the motorcycle theory test today. This involved first going to get passport type photos done. Not free of course. Then attend the test centre, complete the test, seperate fee for this too. Test complete its off to the opticians. Another form, another test, another fee. Then you have to attend a licence centre or whatever its called, again in a different location. Another form, another fee and they POST the licence out.All the while zig zagging across town to these stupid places.

What the actual f*ck like? Is there a more stupid, wasteful system in operation anywhere? Seems like the only goal being achieved here is letting as many sticky fingers as possible get a slice of the pie.

Next up is "mandatory" IBT 2 day course at €400 which of course is located a convenient €40 taxi fare away from the city centre with no public transport available.

why should it be free to get a passport photo done and eye test doen as part of this?

Why shouldn't the test have a separate fee to cover the cost of it?

_Brian

Sosurface wrote: »

Public healthcare is good? Oh boy you live in one insulated laa laa land. Another story for another thread. Education is good? If you happen to be a practicing catholic who doesnt deviate frim the norm in any possible way and are willing to accept that free is not always free by the Irish definition and voluntary doesnt exactly mean the same thing here either. What great facilities are available to the average citizen? Especially those not based in/around Dublin?

People just need to get up of their asses and there are lots of facilities for them to enjoy.

The country is full of sports facilities catering for every sport going. There are parks and gardens and forests open free to enjoy. Mega play grounds free in every town to really high standards.

I work and pay private healthcare and have never needed for anything, never waited for examinations or procedures.

Education is there if people pull their horns in and use it, we have the highest or nearly highest access rates to third level courses in Europe.

Life is often what you make it and the opportunities you take, sitting back and moaning about little inconveniences is pointless.

Sosurface

_Brian wrote: »

People just need to get up of their asses and there are lots of facilities for them to enjoy.

The country is full of sports facilities catering for every sport going. There are parks and gardens and forests open free to enjoy. Mega play grounds free in every town to really high standards.

I work and pay private healthcare and have never needed for anything, never waited for examinations or procedures.

Education is there if people pull their horns in and use it, we have the highest or nearly highest access rates to third level courses in Europe.

Life is often what you make it and the opportunities you take, sitting back and moaning about little inconveniences is pointless.

So you made a comment about public healthcare being good and in your next comnent state you dont actually use it.

BlinkingLights

I have to say I renewed my driving licence here recently and it was very straight forward. Appointment online, no delay when I got there I was called at the time I booked.

Booth/desk had equipment to take my photo and record my signature.

Licence arrived a few days later.

I suspect a lot of this is down to motorbike usage in Ireland being extremely low compared to most of continental Europe. That's likely to mean the test facilities aren't as widespread as car driving testing.

please helpThank YOU

Sosurface wrote: »

So I had to sit the motorcycle theory test today. This involved first going to get passport type photos done. Not free of course. Then attend the test centre, complete the test, seperate fee for this too. Test complete its off to the opticians. Another form, another test, another fee. Then you have to attend a licence centre or whatever its called, again in a different location. Another form, another fee and they POST the licence out.All the while zig zagging across town to these stupid places.

What the actual f*ck like? Is there a more stupid, wasteful system in operation anywhere? Seems like the only goal being achieved here is letting as many sticky fingers as possible get a slice of the pie.

Next up is "mandatory" IBT 2 day course at €400 which of course is located a convenient €40 taxi fare away from the city centre with no public transport available.

Jobs for the Boys and Girls Man made fake rules so people can get rich .

Sosurface

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

why should it be free to get a passport photo done and eye test doen as part of this?

Why shouldn't the test have a separate fee to cover the cost of it?

I dont think any of you are grasping the blatant process ineffiency here. All steps could be done in one place at a fraction of the time cost to user and financial cost to state. This **** is endemic across all state bodies in Ireland. But I guess what else could be expected from a country who consistently views teachers and accountants as ideal leaders.

BlinkingLights

Sosurface wrote: »

So you made a comment about public healthcare being good and in your next comnent state you dont actually use it.

Public healthcare here is good *IF* you're in the system already. The killer here is access to the system. It can take far too long to get access to diagnostic tests and the A&E system is absolutely clogged.

There's a huge issue in Ireland with his primary care operates - mostly GPs who work out of private offices without any facilities. In many European countries it's all local health clinics that can do most of the simple functions of an A&E and can do a lot of basic diagnostic testing and even things like delivery of chemotherapy infusions (as per hospital instructions) without dragging people into their regional high tech hospital as Ireland does.

I've had a few experiences of the irish public system and they've been fairly positive WHEN it's accessible. For example my aunt is a public cancer patent and she's getting pheromonal services and access to very good drugs and tech. Also my sis in law had a baby at CUMH in Cork and it was all flawless and facility was nice.

Then a buddy of mine was waiting 6 months for a potentially urgent cardiac scan which should have been available as a walk in service and is in the private sector and most European public systems.

The access to ENT facilities here is abysmally bad too. I've an ear problem and I had to wait 2 months as a private patient to get my ear cleaned out by microsuction. I ended up having to go to A&E to get access as I was in agony and nobody would see me. I tried GP, ENT departments, public hospital and private hospital. Eventually used the ENT emergency service in the South Infirmary in Cork which isn't walk in.

Public ENT appointments can take months or years and private ones still take months!!

It's so bad I'm seriously thinking of going to a private consultant in London as I need reliable access to these services and I'm willing to pay for them. Insane that I have to contemplate doing that.

Dirty Dingus McGee

Sosurface wrote: »

I dont think any of you are grasping the blatant process ineffiency here. All steps could be done in one place at a fraction of the time cost to user and financial cost to state. This **** is endemic across all state bodies in Ireland. But I guess what else could be expected from a country who consistently views teachers and accountants as ideal leaders.

So you think driver test centres should have an optician on site at all times?

That would be highly inefficient i would imagine as they would be twiddling their thumbs for a lot of the time.

Sosurface

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

So you think driver test centres should have an optician on site at all times?

That would be highly inefficient i would imagine as they would be twiddling their thumbs for a lot of the time.

Arent eye tests mandatory for all driving licences?

ToddyDoody

It's all the EU's fault of course.

cameramonkey

infogiver wrote: »

I work with a lot of Eastern Europeans and they tell me that they thought there was a lot of form filling under the old regime at home, but it pales in comparison to here.

I have lived in Eastern Europe, in Russia and in a former Eastern Block country. Ireland is a relatively free from bureaucracy compared to those two states anyway.

It's a bit like when people say we have a third world health service, I immediately know that they are spoofing, if you have been to a third world country then you would never say such a thing.

Yourself isit

Sosurface wrote: »

So I had to sit the motorcycle theory test today. This involved first going to get passport type photos done. Not free of course. Then attend the test centre, complete the test, seperate fee for this too. Test complete its off to the opticians. Another form, another test, another fee. Then you have to attend a licence centre or whatever its called, again in a different location. Another form, another fee and they POST the licence out.All the while zig zagging across town to these stupid places.

What the actual f*ck like? Is there a more stupid, wasteful system in operation anywhere? Seems like the only goal being achieved here is letting as many sticky fingers as possible get a slice of the pie.

Next up is "mandatory" IBT 2 day course at €400 which of course is located a convenient €40 taxi fare away from the city centre with no public transport available.

Except for the theory centre being a different place to the license centre I dont see any issue here or how it could be different in any other country. Were you expecting an optician on site? A photographer?

Does any other country have a full time optician as part of their driving license?

And of course they post out the license. It needs to be printed first. If they asked you to wait you'd also complain.

Yourself isit

Sosurface wrote: »

I dont think any of you are grasping the blatant process ineffiency here. All steps could be done in one place at a fraction of the time cost to user and financial cost to state. This **** is endemic across all state bodies in Ireland. But I guess what else could be expected from a country who consistently views teachers and accountants as ideal leaders.

It actually wouldn't be more efficient to have an optician on site. Those exams take half an hour at least. The state would have to employ dozens to deal with the queues.

Sosurface

Yourself isit wrote: »

It actually wouldn't be more efficient to have an optician on site. Those exams take half an hour at least. The state would have to employ dozens to deal with the queues.

Honestly I was in the opticians for less than 10 minutes total. And the cost aspect was minimal. €10 in Specsavers. Prob the least hassle part of the whole episode. Now that was fine and I mean for me, I could have spaced out these appointments over a few days and got to them in my own time. Many people here dont actually live in urban centres where they would to access to all seperate facilities in the same place. Meaning more frequent journeys (and remember you're not legally allowed to operate a vehicle yet) or running around trying to get everything done on one trip to an urban centre, if you work most likely a Saturday where you have until 2pm to get this done Or take a day off work which is a whole other form of waste.