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Really Excellent Public Services in Ireland that aren't Shambolic

  • 06-05-2021 7:34pm
    #1
    Registered Users Posts: 293 ✭✭


    How about a thread to discuss all of the brilliant services run by the Government of Ireland - ones which are operating at full pelt, running smoothly and provide a crucial lifeline to people.

    I would start what I'd imagine will be an extensive list but I'm just trying to think of one there.

    Here are the government depts listed on https://www.gov.ie/en/help/departments/

    Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine

    Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth

    Department of Defence

    Department of Education

    Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment

    Department of Finance

    Department of Foreign Affairs

    Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science

    Department of Health

    Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage

    Department of Justice

    Department of Public Expenditure and Reform

    Department of Rural and Community Development

    Department of Social Protection

    Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications

    Department of the Taoiseach

    Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media

    Department of Transport

    Does anybody have a complimentary review of one of the 209 agencies which operate within those?


«13

Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 293 ✭✭Tpcl20


    Don't all jump at once.

    Ok, here are some: https://www.citizensinformationboard.ie/en/

    MABS is actually very helpful when you contact them
    https://www.mabs.ie/en/

    and I got assistance from the FLAC as well which was great.

    https://www.flac.ie/


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,317 ✭✭✭gameoverdude


    Revenue are good.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,654 ✭✭✭✭For Forks Sake


    Revenue are extremely efficient in all aspects of their work.

    Motor tax has improved immeasurably since it went online and centralised in Shannon, rather than the previous joke-shop of a system having to deal with individual county councils.


  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    Public libraries in Ireland are excellent.


  • Registered Users Posts: 8,530 ✭✭✭PieOhMy


    Libraries deliver in their classic remit of books but also newer media and seem to aid those without Internet and computer access with their needs.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,984 ✭✭✭Stovepipe


    Coiste an Asgard, when it existed. A tiny sub office of the Dept of Defence,with a staff of four, it ran the Asgard II very efficiently and thousands of people, me included, got to sail on her and it ran like clockwork. A dreadful pity that it was lost and not replaced.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,984 ✭✭✭Stovepipe


    Museums. We do them well, for the most part.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,839 ✭✭✭Economics101


    Foreign Affairs are fine for passports, or at least were until Covid put them in a tailspin


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,065 ✭✭✭Fighting Irish


    An Post are fairly nifty


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,140 ✭✭✭James Bond Junior


    Irish Water. I had issues with the main sewage line in my house, backing up and so on. A phone call into IW and the jetting truck was out literally within minutes in one case but at most within hours. No fuss, mess cleaned up and a phone call the following day to check in and see everything was done properly. A jetting truck costs hundreds in a call out alone, I never had to pay a cent even though the blockage (a drain rod left behind by a previous owner) was on my line but outside my boundary wall. I paid for a cctv to go down and once I told them what it was, within a week it was removed and I didn't have to pay a cent. Fantastic service.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,330 ✭✭✭Archeron


    Revenue and citizens advice, the opw but as a visitor to their sites, I've never dealt with them.
    I like our museums and galleries and the strange and varied places you find art, like the big steel polo mint rolling down a hill near kinnegad.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,031 ✭✭✭✭Del2005


    How can you say the Department of Health is well run when we've hundreds on trolleys, struggle to recruit front-line staff, send files in taxis, have the most expensive children's hospital being built and have multiples of rolls duplicated in the HSE from the merger of the health boards with no redundancies?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 16,512 ✭✭✭✭whisky_galore


    Stovepipe wrote: »
    Museums. We do them well, for the most part.

    Yes and no.
    Limerick city museum not open on weekends, come on like. Huge space that the small pathetic selection of items on view are lost in.

    Cork, remote for tourists and pretty poor quality and quantity of displays considering it's a major city.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,205 ✭✭✭✭hmmm


    Revenue are pretty good. I've found them relatively easy to deal with over the years, and even after admitting to making a mistake (timing) they were very considerate that it was a complex area.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,564 ✭✭✭✭whiskeyman


    Passport office were fantastic times I've used them.
    Easy to contact on twitter also.


  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    I've had foreign friends here comment on how good Revenue is compared to back home.


  • Registered Users Posts: 293 ✭✭Tpcl20


    Stovepipe wrote: »
    Museums. We do them well, for the most part.
    Having dealt with them from a commercial standpoint (supplied goods to them) they are a NIGHTMARE to deal with. But I do love going to them.

    I wish there were more, and more ambitious cultural centres outside of Dublin. Galway's one is great, and the Heritage centre in Cobh.

    The staff in Revenue are great but waiting on the phone line can be a nightmare at times. The advice I've gotten from them has been top notch. There was a time when an error was made with my payslip somehow and they assured me it was fine when I rang. Two years later, I ended up having to pay back €60 each paycheque for a whole year which was less than satisfactory.


  • Registered Users Posts: 637 ✭✭✭bureau2009


    On an individual basis we have *some* great health care staff. Likewise for *some* teachers.


  • Registered Users Posts: 997 ✭✭✭Mike Murdock


    Revenue have been excellent any time I have needed to use them. Very helpful, and will go the extra mile to help.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,475 ✭✭✭✭Thelonious Monk


    Revenue are a dream to deal with compared to her majesty's or other tax offices I've dealt with abroad. So easy to get money back from Revnue if you move abroad or register with a new employer, it can be a bureaucratic nightmare in other countries.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 33,302 ✭✭✭✭gmisk


    Revenue are good.
    I would second revenue.
    They have a terrific ICT section which has been extremely well invested in which helps.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 33,302 ✭✭✭✭gmisk


    Archeron wrote: »
    Revenue and citizens advice, the opw but as a visitor to their sites, I've never dealt with them.
    I like our museums and galleries and the strange and varied places you find art, like the big steel polo mint rolling down a hill near kinnegad.
    OPW...waste a lot of money....a lot


  • Registered Users Posts: 176 ✭✭Munurty


    I don't think everyone will agree but I think the RSA has made huge progress since in inception in 2006.

    Road deaths have halved since 2006.
    The NCT has taken hundreds of thousands of death traps off our roads.
    The CVRT has made hauliers step up to much higher standards.

    Haulers are now given risk rating scores based on their performance in road worthiness tests, site audits and roadside inspections. The worse their score the more they will be inspected.

    From what I can see all of the above services are online and digitised also. From driving tests to NCT, CVRT tests and driving licenses.

    I don't think it gets enough recognition.


    Another service which I would have seen as world class was our Coast Guard helicopter service. Granted we pay Canadian CHC helicopters to operate the service but the state of the art massively equipped helicopters and their crews are such an amazing resource to have. Unfortunately the fatal crash of Rescue 116 in 2017 highlighted multiple failures, nevertheless they are constantly saving lives.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,594 ✭✭✭Cluedo Monopoly


    Revenue are good for obvious reasons.

    Education, Agriculture and OPW still back in the stone age.

    What are they doing in the Hyacinth House?



  • Closed Accounts Posts: 467 ✭✭EddieN75


    I went to the department of agriculture in portlaoise two years ago for paperwork. They close for a 2 hour lunch. Honestly look it up


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 237 ✭✭RulesOfNature


    Revenue is there to take your money. To praise and cheer them on is bizarre.

    They are efficient at taking your money. To fund the world’s most expensive hospital. Being built during a worldwide economic recession caused by a pandemic. Go figure.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,802 ✭✭✭✭suicide_circus


    The OPW put on some magnificant floral displays in parks around the country, really top notch.

    A relative of mine would have to interact with Revenue through work quite a bit and says they are nowhere near as on the ball as when dealing wigh them on a personal level.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,236 ✭✭✭Dr. Kenneth Noisewater


    They are efficient at taking your money.

    Very true, but I applied for a refund of tax there a few months ago from 2018 as I only worked about 42 weeks in the year and moved abroad and would have overpaid tax. I think the refund was in my bank 3 or 4 days later. Very efficient at returning your money when it's due, in fairness.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,099 ✭✭✭✭Mantis Toboggan


    CAB

    Free Palestine 🇵🇸



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,724 ✭✭✭✭tom1ie


    Yes and no.
    Limerick city museum not open on weekends, come on like. Huge space that the small pathetic selection of items on view are lost in.

    Cork, remote for tourists and pretty poor quality and quantity of displays considering it's a major city.

    Corks a major city?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,172 ✭✭✭screamer


    Don’t find revenue good. Hard to get through and there are often people who don’t have a clue. I find your experience very much depends on the ability of the person you deal with, and is at best hit and miss.

    Lately I’ve found the civil registration service to be great and really efficient.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,614 ✭✭✭WrenBoy


    The HEA's Springboard programmes have been very effective in my opinion. I've had friends and relations get some really great opportunities through it and they speak very highly of it.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,250 ✭✭✭Mav11


    The OPW put on some magnificant floral displays in parks around the country, really top notch.

    The OPW are fantastic at what they do, parks, buildings, heritage sites etc., but their sense of value for taxpayers money is non existent. Some of their overspends and inefficiencies are eye watering and it doesn't seem to bother them.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,250 ✭✭✭Mav11


    tom1ie wrote: »
    Corks a major city?

    It is!


  • Registered Users Posts: 345 ✭✭thebiggestjim


    Very true, but I applied for a refund of tax there a few months ago from 2018 as I only worked about 42 weeks in the year and moved abroad and would have overpaid tax. I think the refund was in my bank 3 or 4 days later. Very efficient at returning your money when it's due, in fairness.

    I agree Revenue are well run and much better that tax authorities in other countries. On the point above, why do you have to apply to get your money back? They know you overpaid, it should be refunded automatically. Revenue would really impress me if they automatically refunded money owed.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,085 ✭✭✭relax carry on


    I agree Revenue are well run and much better that tax authorities in other countries. On the point above, why do you have to apply to get your money back? They know you overpaid, it should be refunded automatically. Revenue would really impress me if they automatically refunded money owed.

    It's because Revenue know what's provided to them by your employer. If they automatically refunded overpayments of PAYE (which shouldn't really be occurring as much as they used to because of real time reporting), and you subsequently have a tax liability in the year because of that side income you forgot to declare etc, that wouldn't exactly be that efficient. Your refund may also be higher because you might be claiming additional tax reliefs.
    Revenue in the last year or two provide preliminary statements of liability for all PAYE employees meaning you will know if an overpayment/liability exists at year end based in the information Revenue have. It's preliminary because you might be declaring additional income/claiming additional reliefs etc.
    By filing your end of year tax return you are making a legal declaration to Revenue that's all the Income you have and you are entitled to credits/reliefs you have claimed.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,839 ✭✭✭Economics101


    Revenue is there to take your money. To praise and cheer them on is bizarre.

    They are efficient at taking your money. To fund the world’s most expensive hospital. Being built during a worldwide economic recession caused by a pandemic. Go figure.

    Revenue are also good at giving money back. Last year I got an unexpected refund after I had filed and paid everything electronically on a P11 form. I had miscalculated one item to my disadvantage.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,665 ✭✭✭✭silverharp


    Some good online services, ROS is easy to use, getting my last Passport was simple and really quick.

    A belief in gender identity involves a level of faith as there is nothing tangible to prove its existence which, as something divorced from the physical body, is similar to the idea of a soul. - Colette Colfer



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,665 ✭✭✭✭silverharp


    I would say the NCT but last time when I couldnt find my driving licence I went down with my Passport and they wouldnt accept it as ID which I found peculiar, they would accept some public service card but that looked like a pain to apply for

    A belief in gender identity involves a level of faith as there is nothing tangible to prove its existence which, as something divorced from the physical body, is similar to the idea of a soul. - Colette Colfer



  • Registered Users Posts: 345 ✭✭thebiggestjim


    It's because Revenue know what's provided to them by your employer. If they automatically refunded overpayments of PAYE (which shouldn't really be occurring as much as they used to because of real time reporting), and you subsequently have a tax liability in the year because of that side income you forgot to declare etc, that wouldn't exactly be that efficient. Your refund may also be higher because you might be claiming additional tax reliefs.
    Revenue in the last year or two provide preliminary statements of liability for all PAYE employees meaning you will know if an overpayment/liability exists at year end based in the information Revenue have. It's preliminary because you might be declaring additional income/claiming additional reliefs etc.
    By filing your end of year tax return you are making a legal declaration to Revenue that's all the Income you have and you are entitled to credits/reliefs you have claimed.

    Makes sense. One may have other income to consider and real time reporting will certainly help. Forget what I said, all is forgiven Revenue.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,166 ✭✭✭enda1


    Mav11 wrote: »
    The OPW are fantastic at what they do, parks, buildings, heritage sites etc., but their sense of value for taxpayers money is non existent. Some of their overspends and inefficiencies are eye watering and it doesn't seem to bother them.

    The opening times of parks is also absolutely abysmal!
    Take Iveagh Gardens for example, doesn't open till 8am, and 10am on Sundays and public holidays. That's ludicrous. Winter closing at half 3 or 4, then they reach the lofty heights of 6 in the summer.

    A virtually useless commodity for those who pay for it (workers)


  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    WrenBoy wrote: »
    The HEA's Springboard programmes have been very effective in my opinion. I've had friends and relations get some really great opportunities through it and they speak very highly of it.

    I'd have a very different view on them but maybe I was just unlucky. Did 2 courses up to post grad level through Springboard, 2 different colleges and both times they were lectured by inexperienced people and stunk of being cobbled together for HEA money.

    Thats not to say I didn't get anything out of them but the later of the courses I did was absolutely shambolic in it's delivery.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,520 ✭✭✭An Ri rua


    Revenue is there to take your money. To praise and cheer them on is bizarre.

    They are efficient at taking your money. To fund the world’s most expensive hospital. Being built during a worldwide economic recession caused by a pandemic. Go figure.

    They are there to take the money that you are holding onto that ISN'T yours. What part of that do you not comprehend or sign up to? They do that for all of us, as per the rules agreed to. Stop being a child.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,614 ✭✭✭WrenBoy


    I'd have a very different view on them but maybe I was just unlucky. Did 2 courses up to post grad level through Springboard, 2 different colleges and both times they were lectured by inexperienced people and stunk of being cobbled together for HEA money.

    Thats not to say I didn't get anything out of them but the later of the courses I did was absolutely shambolic in it's delivery.

    Thats disappointing to hear, like I said I only have the testimonial of 3 people who used the service they all did courses to get into the IT sector and got work/ went onto study further subsequently. I know 2 were with Dublin Business School, don't know about the third, cant remember.
    Hope you got sorted eventually.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,802 ✭✭✭✭suicide_circus


    Mav11 wrote: »
    The OPW are fantastic at what they do, parks, buildings, heritage sites etc., but their sense of value for taxpayers money is non existent. Some of their overspends and inefficiencies are eye watering and it doesn't seem to bother them.

    I'm not aware of any publicly funded body that gives a hoot about value for taxpayer money tbh!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,872 ✭✭✭mrslancaster


    +1 for Revenue.

    TBF, social protection also. They pay huge numbers of people regularly with few issues, pensioners, children's allowance, job seekers, PUP in recent times & various other payments.

    They also manage the GRO & register births deaths & marriages very efficiently. They issue everyone with RSI numbers & record contributions for your entire life. I'm sure there are hiccups but overall it appears to be well run.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,802 ✭✭✭✭suicide_circus


    silverharp wrote: »
    I would say the NCT but last time when I couldnt find my driving licence I went down with my Passport and they wouldnt accept it as ID which I found peculiar, they would accept some public service card but that looked like a pain to apply for

    NCT are an absolute nightmare


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 237 ✭✭RulesOfNature


    An Ri rua wrote: »
    They are there to take the money that you are holding onto that ISN'T yours. What part of that do you not comprehend or sign up to? They do that for all of us, as per the rules agreed to. Stop being a child.

    When did I agree for them to build the world’s most expensive hospital?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,532 ✭✭✭crossman47


    CSO, CRO, aqueducts…

    Oh been pleasantly surprised by passport office

    + 1 for CSO. Very helpful if you have a query.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,426 ✭✭✭KaneToad


    Got a replacement passport in the post recently. It took 48 hrs from application to receipt. I thought that was good.


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