Biggest Waste of Taxpayers Money..?

kowloon · 31-05-2008 12:55PM

orla wrote: »

The millenium clock.

The time in the slime, how could we forget?
It lives on in our hearts.

Oswald Osbourne · 31-05-2008 01:20PM

The HSE. If I wasn't worried the American Healthcare system was the only alternative here I'd say disband the HSE today.

Nightwish · 31-05-2008 01:31PM

Surley wrote: »

The admin staff of the HSE. Know a guy who works for them. Get the odd joke email from him with hundreds of other HSE staff emails on them. Lazy shower of w**kers. You can say that we all do this if you want, i'll still say that there are way too many admin staff working there.

I work in admin in the HSE and I can promise you I am not lazy. We're working our asses off, while the public thinks all of us are "w*nkers". I work closely with the public in my job and those I do meet have complimented me for my work and my manner, I do unpaid overtime. The department where I work is understaffed due to the recruitment embargo (that is officially is not an embargo but in reality is an embargo). However I think that the idiots running the HSE are the biggest waste of taxpayers money. Drumm's salary is unbelievable, he got paid a bonus last year for what??? The HSE ran out of money in September! His advisors get paid up to €600k for working 3-4 days a week.

af_thefragile · 31-05-2008 01:52PM

chuci wrote: »

the HSE as someone who works in a hospital i have no idea where its going the mistakes are horrendous.
professor. brendan drumm- they should employ people who work on the ground and are know where money needs to be spent. rather than some eejit it just makes my blood boil.
tribunals argh why the need for so much money to be spent?
giving themselves a nice high pay rise which is more than half of what normal people get p/a.
42 days of holidays at xmas or whatever it is why why why?if they werent so lazy then the country might run better.

Saving people is not an easy job ya know...
Well, coming from someone who's studying to become a doctor!

But apart from that i think the biggest waste of tax money goes funding the lazy dumb kids who didn't pay attention in school and couldn't get a job for life. All the taxpayers money they get being spent on their drugs and cheap larger...

Caoimhín · 31-05-2008 02:12PM

af_thefragile wrote: »

All the taxpayers money they get being spent on their drugs and cheap larger...

Ah now, I draw the f*cking line at poor drugs and cheap lager being insulted.

Sherifu · 31-05-2008 07:06PM

The e-voting always comes to mind.

And there was a story I remember about HSE workers getting taxi fares paid to take them to a new building they were moving to. I forget the reason given at the time.

Nightwish · 31-05-2008 07:10PM

That was in Finglas. It was ridiculous. Why the HSE gave into them in the 1st place I dont know.

The An Post workers here wanted more money when a new sorting office (which they requested in the first place) opened outside the town.

Sizzler · 02-06-2008 05:56PM

New Entry

What a joke.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/state-benefits-to-nonresident-children-soar-by-2000pc-1393775.html?from=dailynews

This one is prob the easiest way to scam the govt out of a few quid.

It could be a bad joke if it wasnt our money..

Man walks into a social welfare office and says he has 4 kids back In [insert random EU country].....FFS.

jjbrien · 02-06-2008 09:00PM

The Dublin board walk is another waste of money as is the amount spent on choclate for Mary Harney. But the biggest waste I have seen in the historu of the Irish State is

Mullingar General Hospital that lovely new wing which is the one on the right of photo is empty it was built 11 years ago at our expense it is empty and the hse says there is no beds in the system well theres a building with machines and possible beds that could slash waiting lists up and down the county but no. this building has cost us tax payers millions but no one in the goverment cares now they have to change the windows and do it up because its been empty since it was built 11 years ago.

gixerfixer · 02-06-2008 09:02PM

Garda escorting vans loaded with money.Let the banks pay for it themselfs not the taxpayer

ejmaztec · 02-06-2008 09:05PM

Widening and straightening countless main roads, only to paint double white-lines along them so that you still can't overtake a tractor doing 20kph.

sdanseo · 02-06-2008 09:39PM

I missed a few gems when I posted before, on a second reading of this thread gotta add a few more 2c coins into the mix;

return guide wrote: »

Dublin Airport, sapping more and more money through ill thought out extensions and building a new terminal yards from the existing one.

Dublin Airport clearly needs this new terminal. The old one is at capacity and has been for a while. Also the general idea with airports is that you build the terminals close together. Makes fúck all sense to have them a mile apart now doesn't it?

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

Which bit is funded by the taxpayer?

The DAA owns the land, which in turned is owned for the most part by the government.

caoibhin wrote: »

Sorry, 99.99% of civil/public servants are lazy wa*kers.

I'm sure you know each one of them personally so? Or at least are working in that sector yourself to prove it - because I know quite a lot of public sector workers and each and every one of them, minus a couple of slackers, are as dedicated as can be expected to what they do (depending what it is they do of course, cleaners are obviously going to be somewhat less didicated than social workers).

gixerfixer wrote: »

Garda escorting vans loaded with money.Let the banks pay for it themselfs not the taxpayer

+1, Even worse is when the army do it - generally means 2 Jeeps and 8 soldiers and quite possible a commanding officer accompanying them. Fantabulous waste of resources, although I haven't seen it in a while.

McSandwich · 02-06-2008 11:17PM

Sofaspud wrote: »

The spire's the obvious one.

And not directly our tax money, but there's a ridiculous amount spent on the space program. We should fix our own bloody planet before trying to find out if other planets are better than it.

Have a look at some of the things we wouldn't have if it weren't for the space program:

http://www.thespaceplace.com/nasa/spinoffs.html

http://www.look-to-the-skies.com/space_program_spinoffs.htm

mikemac · 04-06-2008 06:50AM

gamer wrote: »

.TG4 a station 4 like 3percent of the population who speak irish ,id say the programs in irish have a small audience ,most of the non irish programs are shown on other stations anyway.

TG4 was a succuss. I don't know the current figures but the annual budget was around €25 at one stage.
Not a collasal sum out of the budget. Plus they commission and give employment to indepandant production companies. You know like, Ros na Run or Afraic.

Was a good investment imo

Edit: Was it Dick Roche who was responsible for those iodine pills? There is a waste of money

speaktofrank · 04-06-2008 07:14AM

micmclo wrote: »

Edit: Was it Dick Roche who was responsible for those iodine pills? There is a waste of money

Bet if Sellifield went boom you wouldn't think it was a waste of money.

For me the biggest waste of money is social welfare. Give them the minimum necessary to survive, scrap child allowance, bet that waythey won't make the same mistake again.
Fair enough for people who have been made redundant, with disabilities, but for people who have spent 2+ years on it there should see their benefits cut completely.

TomCo · 04-06-2008 03:43PM

Sofaspud wrote: »

And not directly our tax money, but there's a ridiculous amount spent on the space program. We should fix our own bloody planet before trying to find out if other planets are better than it.

You're wrong about that, an amazing amount of inventions and improvements we take for granted today exist solely because of the space program.

Lockstep · 04-06-2008 04:09PM

The HSE and electronic voting.

sunnyjim · 04-06-2008 04:35PM

sdonn_1 wrote:

+1, Even worse is when the army do it - generally means 2 Jeeps and 8 soldiers and quite possible a commanding officer accompanying them. Fantabulous waste of resources, although I haven't seen it in a while.

Waste? They are there to stop gangs getting their hands on easy money. It only really came into importance once the myriad of IRA's were raiding southern banks as fundraising. Oh, and other gangs too. The money well spent, making sure regular people aren't paying criminals salaries.

dotsman · 04-06-2008 07:13PM

gixerfixer wrote: »

Garda escorting vans loaded with money.Let the banks pay for it themselfs not the taxpayer

sdonn_1 wrote: »

+1, Even worse is when the army do it - generally means 2 Jeeps and 8 soldiers and quite possible a commanding officer accompanying them. Fantabulous waste of resources, although I haven't seen it in a while.

3 points:

The banks DO pay for it.
Is it not up to the guards/armed forces to protect the Irish people from criminal gangs and terrorist organisations?
Are you willing to pay to use an ATM, or perhaps pay a commission to the shopkeeper every time you pay in cash?

Cash is an extremely expensive method of payment and is by far the single biggest contributor to crime.

You want to cut the costs of cash (and eliminate the majority of crime)? Use Debit/Credit cards, direct debits, on-line bank transfers, paypal etc.

Oh, and what else are the armed forces going to be doing? We have very limited exposure to global conflict. If they weren't escorting the bullion etc, they would just be hanging around the barracks costing the taxpayer!

Zzippy · 04-06-2008 07:55PM

caoibhin wrote: »

Beat me to it.

Lazy w*nkers, all of them.

Generalise much?
WTF would you know - do you work with all of them?

Idiotic post TBH

Capt'n Midnight · 04-06-2008 07:58PM

dotsman wrote:

Oh, and what else are the armed forces going to be doing? We have very limited exposure to global conflict. If they weren't escorting the bullion etc, they would just be hanging around the barracks costing the taxpayer!

Peacekeeping , since before you were born.

The banks didn't want the escorts because it was cheaper for them to have the odd shipment stolen than to pay for proper protection. The Gov't paid for protection to starve the criminals of income ( and I include the paramilitaries as criminals )

mikemac · 04-06-2008 08:02PM

Banks pay around €5 million per year for the army and garda escorts.
It doesn't cover all the cost though and the banks and government are constantly argueing over pays for it all.

Was an article in the paper a few months back.

Doesn't belong it this thread, the government are trying to save money

Capt'n Midnight · 04-06-2008 08:07PM

gamer wrote: »

TG4 a station 4 like 3percent of the population who speak irish ,id say the programs in irish have a small audience ,most of the non irish programs are shown on other stations anyway

Actually TV3 is a far bigger waste of money because it shows almost NOTHING you can't get elsewhere in ITV land and if it was gone then the other channels would get a bigger slice of the advertising pie and so need less money off the taxpayers.

TG4 is a bit like Channel4 , most of it you don't like, but the good bits are excellent and you just get them anywhere else.

Capt'n Midnight · 04-06-2008 08:09PM

ejmaztec wrote: »

Widening and straightening countless main roads, only to paint double white-lines along them so that you still can't overtake a tractor doing 20kph.

[rant]bloody hard shoulders !
just paint the yellow lines white and instantly you have overtaking lanes with no danger of head on collisions. [/rant]

johnnyrotten · 04-06-2008 08:14PM

Mr.S wrote: »

Am i the only one who likes the look for the Spire?

No, me too!
Every capital city has a visual monument or sculpture

F€ck the begrudgers

Biggest waste of taxpayers money - Opposition seats occupied by Fine Gael!

Capt'n Midnight · 04-06-2008 08:34PM

TomCo wrote: »

You're wrong about that, an amazing amount of inventions and improvements we take for granted today exist solely because of the space program.

:rolleyes:
like velcro ?
or the space pen ?
or microchips ?

manned spaceflight has for the most part been a waste of money
Skylab was bodged together from left over hardware (the telescope was based on an unused LEM ) and computers weren't as advanced as now so useful work was done realtively cheaply. By comparison the ISS is a black hole, the altitude of space it's in is probably the most studied previously , vibrations from humans affect the most sensitive instruments and each launch of the shuttle could be another mission to mars. MIR was sacrificed for it.

How could a space station be built for less ?
with a little boost the external tank could be taken into orbit. It's a large pressure resistant container with insulated walls and if it's not empty it's because of useful oxygen and Hydrogen
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuttle_External_Tank
# Length: 153.8 ft (46.9 m)
# Diameter: 27.6 ft (8.4 m)
# Empty Weight: 58,500 lb (26,560 kg)
Oxygen Volume (at 22 psig): 19,541.66 cubic feet; 146,181.8 gallons (553,358.2 liters)
Hydrogen Volume (at 29.3 psig): 52,881.61 cubic feet; 395,581.9 gallons (1,497,440 liters)
http://www.permanent.com/ext-tank.htm

NASA has offered to deliver its tank to orbit for free to any entity capable of handling it properly. - can't verify this !
Notably, the External Tank, when separated from the Shuttle, still has some hydrogen and oxygen in it. This leftover fuel is abot 1000 kilograms (roughly 2000 pounds) or 1 ton of hydrogen, and about 6,000 kilograms (13,000 pounds) or 6 tons of oxygen, which is 1% of its liftoff fuel. It also has 500 kilograms (245 pounds) of nitrogen (a refrigerant).

chuci · 04-06-2008 09:06PM

af_thefragile wrote: »

Saving people is not an easy job ya know...
Well, coming from someone who's studying to become a doctor!

yup i know its not. im a nurse being called back from my bit of travel to go back onto a kids ward because they dont have enough staff to cover the ward because of the embargo(which isnt meant to be one). So ya its very hard.

i thought TG4 was a success no?they programmes they had in english from the state side, they were always first to show them. plus they have passion fashion that was brilliant.

elmolesto · 04-06-2008 09:12PM

The spire.

Shadowless · 04-06-2008 09:27PM

Pat Kenny: 800,000 euro a year. Seriously?
That's twice as much as the Taoiseach!
Surely 250,000 would be enough for him.

HSE Top Brass: You can't sack them no matter how poorly they perform.

Train Drivers: Ah sure we won't bother workin, cost the economy over 3 million and can we get sacked? No!

Oh to be a civil servant

McSandwich · 04-06-2008 11:31PM

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

:rolleyes:
like velcro ?
or the space pen ?
or microchips ?

A few more here for starters... http://www.thespaceplace.com/nasa/spinoffs.html

NASA has offered to deliver its tank to orbit for free to any entity capable of handling it properly. - can't verify this !
Notably, the External Tank, when separated from the Shuttle, still has some hydrogen and oxygen in it. This leftover fuel is abot 1000 kilograms (roughly 2000 pounds) or 1 ton of hydrogen, and about 6,000 kilograms (13,000 pounds) or 6 tons of oxygen, which is 1% of its liftoff fuel. It also has 500 kilograms (245 pounds) of nitrogen (a refrigerant).

If that's true, I wonder why they don't just use a smaller fuel tank. That would not only save on wasted fuel left in the tank but also the fuel required to put the large tank + 7500Kgs of unused fuel into space!

Biggest Waste of Taxpayers Money..?

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