Really Excellent Public Services in Ireland that aren't Shambolic

An Ri rua wrote: »

Revenue are good at a lot of things but I don't think they build hospitals. As yet.
I don't know when you agreed to that? How would I? And why did you?

The point is, Revenue in Ireland is efficient at taxing the poor and the working man, but has so many loopholes available for the rich.

They are efficient at taxing YOU. They are not efficient at taxing corporations and wealthy elites.

The National Archives were great, but it's been a long time since I was there. OPW do great work also.

There are a lot of great services within the public hospitals. Of course there is focus on their abysmal waiting lists, trolley counts etc. etc. There is more of a focus on specialist nurses running clinics which takes pressure off the regular clinics and frees them up for more complicated patients. The hospital where I work also has a really excellent pathway for cancer patients. You can get referred by your GP on Monday, notes reviewed and offered an appointment within a few days, biopsy done the same day, scans ordered and prepped for surgery the following week. Scans completed, results back and treatment course planned between hospitals all within a few weeks of the original referral. It ran the same all through covid also.

When I call Revenue it is because I have a problem or need information.
most times I call I get a person who knows what they are talking about and I can usually tell when there is a newbie on the other end of the line. If they cannot help me, they will pass me up the line to someone who does.
Since COVID the holding time has increased, but I expect its because half of them Are working from home.
When I call Revenue I couldn’t care less about the government taxation policies or the cost of the blasted children’s hospital.
I want someone to pick up the call and help me.
I doubt if the person who answers my call is bothered either.
I am very thankful that it’s not like the uk where you could be waiting an hour to get through and that’s if you call before 9 am.
I am also grateful that I can pick up the phone and deal with someone. Try that is some European countries and the phone isn’t picked up at all and you have to take time off work and visit the office. Also you get your overpaid taxes back when you ask for them, they are not kept and offset against the next year..

Government policies is a different thing from an efficient service.

RulesOfNature wrote: »

Evidently false. They are literally building the world's most expensive hospital in front of everyone, and the corruption around it is painfully obvious. Meanwhile amazon took 44billion euros of profits last year without playing a dime in taxes.

Oh but they're so efficient that they refunded you that 65euros in overpaid taxes. They must be a fair and efficient revenue service!

The discussion is supposed to be about efficient online services, in particular Revenue. What does this have to with cost over-runs and related issues with the children's hospital? Absolutely nothing. What does Amazon's worldwide profit have to do with Revenue? Almost nothing: they didn't write the legislation, they just implement it. And anyhow has it not occurred to you that Amazon's profits are mostly unrelated to Ireland: they are after all a global company.

The..." I pay your wages" as a response to anything to do with public service is another one.

Passport Office online service.
Very efficient, application to receiving new passport (2018) was three days.
The computerised 'yes or no' to self taken photo is a godsend.

Revenue: email or in person - polite, super efficient, helpful

RulesOfNature wrote: »

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.

Really a ridiculous post.

Their job is not just to collect money, which in itself is no easy task but to implement and manage all the complications of our tax system.

When you consider how many taxes we have it’s quite a responsibility that could easily be a disaster.

On a personal level, I recently changed job and it was so easy, just log on to my revenue. Add new job and enter new employer's details and start date and everything is done.
Your new employer is notified of your tax credits, old employer is turned off. No P45s, or paper forms and most importantly no delays resulting in emergency tax, It was perfect.

That’s just one example of how they have developed a great system.

Once the money is collected they are not involved with or concerned with how it is spent. That is the government’s responsibility and projects like the children’s hospital has been ongoing for years and pre-date Covid and should not stop.
It’s a wonder you didn’t mention the homeless as well.

salonfire wrote: »

Absolute nonsense, the service in private hospitals is excellent and provides excellent value for money. E.g not paying for porters and their numerous tea breaks. Vastly different to the shambles in public health

What on earth makes you think private hospitals don't have proters?

I have had treatment in the public and private hospitals and the treatment in both was very good but in no way was the private hospital superior except for a private room.

I asked a register about this and he said there is no difference in the treatment but you might have more control over appointments in the private hospital.

Private hospitals can be shambolic why is there an iron-clad belief that if it's a for-profit service it will be better.

salonfire wrote: »

Absolute nonsense, the service in private hospitals is excellent and provides excellent value for money. E.g not paying for porters and their numerous tea breaks. Vastly different to the shambles in public health

I'm afraid my experience was just as I stated. I developed a complication due an error by a private hospital and was immediately moved to a public hospital with the necessary speciality.

Padre_Pio wrote: »

Point 1 is just plain incorrect. Many private companies go on strike and withdraw their services. Happens regularly. The LUAS is operated by Transdev and has striked (struck?) many times (including during the Leaving Cert and 2016 Easter weekend) so there's precedent for private companies with public contracts going on strike.

Point 2 is also incorrect. Firstly, there's nothing wrong with looking for better pay. Secondly, the nature of the work is constantly changing. A nurse's job in 2000 is completely different from a nurse's job in 2020. Same with a teacher, who is now more of a social worker. The qualifications and skills have changed, but the government only reviews wage structures when they're forced to. Also, the average wage is sh*te. If you're aiming for average, you're aiming too low.


Anyways, my go to is Revenue. Their MyAccount platform is great and makes it easy to apply for rebates and balancing statements.

My only gripe with museums is they're closed on Sundays and Bank Holidays, which are prime museum days.

Your only going to bring in the ranting and raving about nurses and teachers crowd with your post.

Equium wrote: »

My OH has to deal with Italian government agencies on a regular basis, and they are light years behind in this regard. Websites are missing forms, emails are often never replied to and you get passed from post to pillar to get an answer to any request. Having to attend an appointment in person there is even worse. You could easily spend a day being shuffled between several buildings just to get home none the wiser.

What did I tell yiz?! We don’t know how good we’ve got it, for dealing with our bureaucracies.

Don't think anyone has mentioned the NRA, now TII?

I remember when national roads were maintained by the county councils. On a trip say from Dublin to Galway, the road surface would change every time you crossed a county border, depending on which local authority were responsible for what portion of the road. Some were good, some were atrocious, and the whole approach was highly inefficient.

Come to think of it, why do we have 30+ local authorities more or less doing the same thing?