Bord Gais increase bills by 12% whilst spending 100k on chairs!!

Standard Toaster · 30-08-2011 03:27PM

Oh I'm sitting on one of them right now.....very comfortable

4leto · 30-08-2011 03:33PM

Standard Toaster wrote: »

Oh I'm sitting on one of them right now.....very comfortable

Glad to hear,

But Matt Talbot wouldn't have approved.

Elohim · 30-08-2011 03:40PM

jimmmy wrote: »

typical semi-state / government mentality.
You would'nt see Ryanair wasting 980,000 printing something in to a language nobody reads, or spending 100k on chairs.

I'd say ryanair have spent a lot more on seats, they've a decent amount of them in them planes that they own.

My name is URL · 30-08-2011 03:45PM

380 of them were purchased by BG according to thejournal.ie

Looking at this the chairs weren't even designed for 8 hour work days.

The basic Aeron, by Herman Miller, costs around $700, and many office workers swear by them. There are also researchers who doubt them. "The Aeron is far too low," says Dr. A.C. Mandal, a Danish doctor who was among the first to raise flags about sitting 50 years ago. "I visited Herman Miller a few years ago, and they did understand. It should have much more height adjustment, and you should be able to move more. But as long as they sell enormous numbers, they don't want to change it." Don Chadwick, the co-designer of the Aeron, says he wasn't hired to design the ideal product for an eight-hour-workday; he was hired to update Herman Miller's previous best-seller.

Mike 1972 · 30-08-2011 11:58PM

TheZohan wrote: »

Also they're not €900 over here, you'd pick them up for around €660 (+ VAT which they can claim back). If they were buying in bulk I have to agree with Yakult, they'd get a better price on them.

This is a semi state company we are talking about.

One can probably buy the exact same chairs in Ikea for €90

WalterMitty · 31-08-2011 12:02AM

I heard they didnt get the neck suport extra that would cost 200eur a chair as semi state workers all have hardest necks in the country.

woodoo · 31-08-2011 12:05AM

chin_grin wrote: »

Rabble rabble rabble rabble rabble rabble.

Wow a new low of rabbling. Chairs. What have we come to!?

"I'm shocked Joe", etc.

And this is why it will continue. Because so many people don't give a damn. We tolerate it. Even belittle those that object.

These chairs are about €800. Its madness.

7sr2z3fely84g5 · 31-08-2011 12:13AM

woodoo wrote: »

Because so many people don't give a damn. We tolerate it. Even belittle those that object.

Agree,long list of stuff taxpayer coughs up for freely,this was in papers during the week,why are taxpayers still looking after this former minister expenses?-
http://www.herald.ie/news/sure-hes-laughing-on-euro264k-expenses-sham-2860387.html

TAXPAYERS have been forced to fork out nearly €270,000 to cover Bertie Ahern's expenses since he stepped down as Taoiseach.
Mr Ahern, whose government fuelled the property bubble, is entitled to two secretarial assistants, free mobile phone use and VIP services at airports.
He is also allowed the use of a State car for official engagements.
Mr Ahern has claimed far more money than other retired taoisigh, according to a report by the Department of the Taoiseach.
He has been paid just over €264,000 in expenses since he stepped down in May 2008, including €7,500 on mobile phone bills. The money is separate from his pension, which stands at €150,000 a year.
His secretarial expenses amounted to €106,838 last year and €114,369 in 2009.
He claimed €42,890 for secretarial expenses in the first six months of this year. This compared to €24,731 for Albert Reynolds and €13,562 for John Bruton.
Brian Cowen claimed €15,260 for secretarial assistance until the end of June. Under the current regime, former taoisigh can employ two secretarial assistants -- with a maximum annual salary of €55,415 -- for up to five years after leaving office.
They are entitled to keep on one assistant indefinitely after the initial five-year period ends.

4leto · 31-08-2011 02:58AM

Alisa Chilly Mainframe wrote: »

Agree,long list of stuff taxpayer coughs up for freely,this was in papers during the week,why are taxpayers still looking after this former minister expenses?-
http://www.herald.ie/news/sure-hes-laughing-on-euro264k-expenses-sham-2860387.html

Mother mother of god

This just has to simply stop'

Have the retrhobate borrow off his daughters

If he was competent my opinion would have differed................

randylonghorn · 31-08-2011 04:22AM

Under the current regime, former taoisigh can employ two secretarial assistants -- with a maximum annual salary of €55,415 -- for up to five years after leaving office.
They are entitled to keep on one assistant indefinitely after the initial five-year period ends.

I'm not sure why this is necessary in any case (leaving aside the fact that I have no time for Ahern).

One secretary for say one year after leaving office, perhaps.

Two for five years, one indefinitely?

Why?

ShadowHearth · 31-08-2011 08:08AM

Jesus.... My pc chair coated 90 quid... Still same as 5 years ago...

1k per chair? Holy ****, you can buy a whole leather couch set for that money...

listermint · 31-08-2011 08:47AM

So they bought 380, Multiply that by em 900 Euro We come to 340,000

Lets give them a 20% discount for bulk order (very generous discount)

Thats now a figure of 271600 Euro

270 K on poxy office Chairs!!!

Can anyone tell me what the hell is wrong with the ones they have?? I mean theyre existing office is not exactly a slum as it is.....

And 'disturbance money' for moving across the road and up a few streets...

Are these people for bloody real! Central Purchasing is what is required for all these idiots. Its because theyve been getting away with this crap for years that it makes it okay. This shower of tools are increasing theyre prices on all of us saddos for the winter and they can justify this type of expenditure. Anyone who agrees with this or throws in an apathy post clearly hasnt a clue.

Christ we moved offices recently and were were tough to get a budget of 60K for the move all in. Oh but wait were private employees we watch were the money goes because heads roll where i work :rolleyes:

Freddie59 · 31-08-2011 08:48AM

Yakult wrote: »

Who thought a new office would need chairs and lots of them.. :rolleyes:

Yeah. But most normal people would buy them fromViking Direct at a knock-down price. Again, Looney Ireland at its worst.

Freddie59 · 31-08-2011 08:50AM

Yakult wrote: »

That's the retail price for everyday consumers. I doubt that a company will be paying full whack for these chairs considering their a business (excl-vat) and the fact they bought in bulk which again would drive the average price of the chair down.

Even if they got 30% knocked off it's bloody ridiculous.

BlaasForRafa · 31-08-2011 08:51AM

ShadowHearth wrote: »

Jesus.... My pc chair coated 90 quid... Still same as 5 years ago...

1k per chair? Holy ****, you can buy a whole leather couch set for that money...

Don't start giving them semi-state/ps types ideas, the unions will be demanding leather couch sets next.

Freddie59 · 31-08-2011 08:52AM

listermint wrote: »

Its because theyve been getting away with this crap for years

They key to all that is wrong in this country. No-one to answer to. No accountability. Even though we're heading for debt of €250bn.:rolleyes: It will never, ever change. And the laughable thing is that, if 'competition' had not been introduced in the energy sector, prices would more than likely be lower than they are today.

listermint · 31-08-2011 09:10AM

Freddie59 wrote: »

They key to all that is wrong in this country. No-one to answer to. No accountability. Even though we're heading for debt of €250bn.:rolleyes: It will never, ever change. And the laughable thing is that, if 'competition' had not been introduced in the energy sector, prices would more than likely be lower than they are today.

Love to know what Pat Rabbite has to say about this!, Plank that he is. Same tool who comes into the nest fishing for votes from the 'normal people'.

jester77 · 31-08-2011 09:13AM

ilovesleep wrote: »

100,000k for office chairs (900 euro a chair is it) is far too much. If a private company spent that kind of money on chairs alone they would be more than likely very much fail as a company. They just wouldn't survive. And in this current climate with many companies closing, they could have sourced chairs secondhand. Sickening.

I work for a private company and we have over 300 of these chairs and we are doing very well. Fantastic chairs & well worth the money, you can sit the whole day at your desk and never once feel uncomfortable or suffer from any back problems. Cheap chairs and you will have lots of staff out with posture problems which will cost more in the long run.

FetchTheGin · 31-08-2011 09:17AM

BlaasForRafa wrote: »

the unions will be demanding leather couch sets next.

As I said before, I think these Union bosses should be hired by the Guards to talk people down from tall buildings, or help the American government with terrorists.

They are the masters of negotiation.

seamus · 31-08-2011 09:23AM

The chairs are €600 ex VAT and you get significant discounts when you buy them in large numbers.

But don't let the facts get in the way of a good rant lads.

Imagine the amount of sick leave and compensation claims that would be put in if they installed 380 argos specials @ €50 a pop.

FetchTheGin · 31-08-2011 09:25AM

seamus wrote: »

Imagine the amount of sick leave and compensation claims that would be put in if they installed 380 argos specials @ €50 a pop.

I would say the sick leave gravy train will chug along nicely regardless.

listermint · 31-08-2011 09:31AM

So sent an email to the office

minister.rabbitte@dcenr.gov.ie

Dear Minister Rabbitte,

It saddens me after the last few years of turmoil in this country, that we still have these stories rolling out nearly
once a week in relation to extraodinary expenditure from both Government Departments and Semi State entities.

The most recent saddening reflection on this governments control for me has to be the revelation of Bord Gais
spending an inordinate +250 K on a low volume of office chairs said to be in the region of 350 units. This coupled
with the in dispute 'disturbance payment' that some of the staff are seeking from this localised office change.

One begs to wonder what level of other funds were spent on this move, new desks? Flat Screens? Gold plated
pens perhaps? All this comes at a time of unprecedented energy prices in this country when all around us have
lower levels of cost in this sector. The Regulator has given the green light to increases and still we see zero notion
of cost savings displayed from this entity.

Where is the independent central purchasing body? An organisation such as this might have limited powers in a
semi state for all i know, but it would set a bench mark for all others to be measured. Someone needs to get these
people in line. And frankly your department has not succeeded in this matter.

I dont know how you can gladly walk around Tallaght, seeking votes from people who will be hit with 20% increases
this winter with news such as this leaking out. Lets be honest all would be normal business in Bord Gais today if
some passerby hadnt taken a snapshot of these chairs being unloaded. Was there something wrong with the items
from their old office?

I feel my vote for you was wasted, and I will be encouraging my social circle to really examine their options based on
your record so far.

Yours Cordially,

Listermint

Continually Disappointed.

All this internet chatter is no use, if you dont direct your annoyance directly at the man in charge. Let them know that your p*ssed off. Because someone needs to make a bloody change in the attitudes, and giving out on the internet and being annoyed when you read it in the newspaper wont do a think. Let them know.

listermint · 31-08-2011 09:35AM

seamus wrote: »

The chairs are €600 ex VAT and you get significant discounts when you buy them in large numbers.

But don't let the facts get in the way of a good rant lads.

Imagine the amount of sick leave and compensation claims that would be put in if they installed 380 argos specials @ €50 a pop.

Rants!! Rants!!

Where the hell are theyre old office chairs? Its not an 'old' office they are in right now. Tell me that?

But let that not get in the way of more flagrant spending and energy price increases......

Mr. Presentable · 31-08-2011 09:43AM

listermint wrote: »

So sent an email to the office

minister.rabbitte@dcenr.gov.ie

All this internet chatter is no use, if you dont direct your annoyance directly at the man in charge. Let them know that your p*ssed off. Because someone needs to make a bloody change in the attitudes, and giving out on the internet and being annoyed when you read it in the newspaper wont do a think. Let them know.

Well done you. What is broadsheet.ie - how reliable a source? But never mind, you got an opportunity to go on a rant.

I'm with seamus on this one - the costs quoted are way over estimated and the benefits under-appreciated.

On a side note, I observe all but six of the posts on this thread were made during office hours. Are ye all stealing from your employers or are ye all in receipt of taxpayers money?

mconigol · 31-08-2011 09:52AM

Good to see the rabble are still alive and well and talking ****e as usual based on no facts...:rolleyes:

listermint · 31-08-2011 09:52AM

Mr. Presentable wrote: »

Well done you. What is broadsheet.ie - how reliable a source? But never mind, you got an opportunity to go on a rant.

I'm with seamus on this one - the costs quoted are way over estimated and the benefits under-appreciated.

On a side note, I observe all but six of the posts on this thread were made during office hours. Are ye all stealing from your employers or are ye all in receipt of taxpayers money?

Hello Mr Unite...

Broadhsheet.ie ? no I have several news sources reporting this story. TV3 news being one. So let your single source not dissuade you from having a go and calling it a rant.

I have received 1 weeks payment of Job Seekers in my entire life thank you and work my arse of the rest of the time. Currently I work in the software sector where my entire day is spent in the cloud. I do probably 12 sometimes 14 hour days. So stick that in your pipe and smoke it.

Its the likes of you that defends this type of spending which leads onto the complete apathy that occurs when we have massive overruns in infrastructure projects.

Its called Financial Control. It has to start at the bottom. But of course you probably dont care, its all paid for by the taxpayer. no skin of my nose...

listermint · 31-08-2011 09:59AM

mconigol wrote: »

Good to see the rabble are still alive and well and talking ****e as usual based on no facts...:rolleyes:

We have facts, The chairs where photographed, and they appeared on national TV, We know the RRP of the chairs is anything FROM 600 - 900 Euro.

Accounting for a 20% discount on the chairs on the minimum RRP of 600 Euro, that is still 177,000 Euro on office chairs.

This all comes at a time when they are people taking over hotels to transform into schools because the schools are waiting years on a land grant to build one.

Ive no idea how anyone with any sense can call this smart spending. Realistically how is this smart spending.

Let me tell you exactly what is going on here. The staff in the old office have chairs that are perfectly fine. They are all moving to the new office up the road and joining up the remaining staff with them from smaller offices dotted around the place.

Now rather than bringing the perfectly good chairs with them, and maybe buying in a small amount of new ones (that wouldnt do) because theyre are ars*holes in the office that would kick up sh&t about not getting an new chair etc etc etc. So they have to replace all of them. Because lets face it everyone has to be treated equally in regardless......

Go off and defend it... Lunacy....

mconigol · 31-08-2011 10:04AM

listermint wrote: »

We have facts, The chairs where photographed, and they appeared on national TV, We know the RRP of the chairs is anything FROM 600 - 900 Euro.

Accounting for a 20% discount on the chairs on the minimum RRP of 600 Euro, that is still 177,000 Euro on office chairs.

This all comes at a time when they are people taking over hotels to transform into schools because the schools are waiting years on a land grant to build one.

Ive no idea how anyone with any sense can call this smart spending. Realistically how is this smart spending.

Let me tell you exactly what is going on here. The staff in the old office have chairs that are perfectly fine. They are all moving to the new office up the road and joining up the remaining staff with them from smaller offices dotted around the place.

Now rather than bringing the perfectly good chairs with them, and maybe buying in a small amount of new ones (that wouldnt do) because theyre are ars*holes in the office that would kick up sh&t about not getting an new chair etc etc etc. So they have to replace all of them. Because lets face it everyone has to be treated equally in regardless......

Go off and defend it... Lunacy....

I'm not going to defend it, why should I? I can see the benefits however.

My point was simply that the story wasn't based in fact and was designed to stir up peoples emotions and the rabble rabble brigade.

Why do people let themselves be manipulated so easily by the media?

srsly78 · 31-08-2011 10:08AM

Bah fookers! I've been trying to get one of these chairs (or the Mirra one) but I can't find ANYONE that will deliver to Ireland

Gotta buy in UK and then arrange courier myself, £150 with DHL. Anyone know where I can just order one?

mconigol · 31-08-2011 10:12AM

srsly78 wrote: »

Bah fookers! I've been trying to get one of these chairs (or the Mirra one) but I can't find ANYONE that will deliver to Ireland Gotta buy in UK and then arrange courier myself, £150 with DHL. Anyone know where I can just order one?

You evil bastard. Why don't you give that money to charity instead?!!

Bord Gais increase bills by 12% whilst spending 100k on chairs!!

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