Efficiency or lack of it in the public sector

[patslatt]

Many public sector entities seem to be poorly managed,judging by the following tales of woe:

[]Hospitals make headlines for waiting lists and lack of access
[]Courts are plagued by delays,witness the postponement a few months ago of one of the very few rape cases to make it to trial
[]The Garda Siochana are tied up in administration with only 10% of police admin civilianised v 40% in the UK
[]The Environment department is being sued by Brussels for non-compliance with pollution contols, and it fails to halt "bungalow blitz",even in scenic areas like Donegal
[]Energy costs are rising dramatically,in part to pay absurd wages to ESB workers, such as the €140,000 a year of plant operatives in Dublin gas plants
[]Treansportation is poorly managed:
-Dublin Aiport is third world class
-Dublin Bus is poor at meeting schedules in Dublin and stifles competition
-Cost overruns on building motorways are colossal

By contrast,one of the Departments that works well is Education,probably because delivery is privatised at second level and universities.

So why is so much of our public sector malfunctioning? Could it be that our system of proportional representation with multiple member constituencies,which is extremely democratic at the grassroots (unlike "party lists" systems on the Continent under which party leaders pick candidates),prevents governments from governing decisively? There seems to be far too much muddling through,the hallmark of democracy.

To say that "all politics is local" in Ireland is an understatement. Our PR based governments must build considerable consensus over very long periods of time before tackling vested interests in order to achieve reforms and must court all the stakeholders: local groups,county councillors, trade unions and professional associations. Much of the time the government will decide to do nothing or, as a public relations exercise, begin half-hearted initiatives secretly expected to fail. Public sector trade unions and professional associations have become very adept at exploiting government weaknesses to block reforms and secure unconscionable privileges for themselves, such as lifetime tenure in jobs and hobbled competition.

Maybe it is time to revisit the issue of proportional representation. Some modification of it could be applied to a proportion of the seats in the Dail in order to strengthen the control of the party leaderships.

[anmajornarthainig]

What do you mean by your comment about delivery of education at second and third level being privatised?

[Pax]

What do you mean by your comment about delivery of education at second and third level being privatised?

Didn't you hear? A couple of years ago the Hea commissioned the OECD to look into fees and part-privatisation after they had already recommended fees in the UK.
It's done already - no matter how we vote...

Seriously though, patslatt's post is wrong here and is peppered with assumptions.

]Hospitals make headlines for waiting lists and lack of access

And? Any analysis as to why beyond saying that horribly democratic proportional representation needs to be changed?

Dublin Bus is poor at meeting schedules in Dublin and stifles competition

In comparison to the privatised Buses (publicly subsidised) in the UK? Why do we need competition?

-Cost overruns on building motorways are colossal

Oh you mean the cost overruns due to public private partnerships and the incentive to create unneeded capacity?

Prime Time Investigates: The Money Pit
http://www.rte.ie/news/2005/0510/infrastructure.html

[]Energy costs are rising dramatically,in part to pay absurd wages to ESB workers, such as the €140,000 a year of plant operatives in Dublin gas plants

Er nope. The wages have practically eff all to do with it, while the pay example is a myth. The real reason why we moved from have the second lowest prices (with the same wages) to the high prices today is because of privatisation and liberalisation and the requirement to increase prices for private operators.

I posted on this here

______________
[size=7]"The oppressed are allowed once every few years to decide which particular representatives of the oppressing class are to represent and repress them."
-- Karl Marx[/size]

[SPN]

Many public sector entities seem to be poorly managed,judging by the following tales of woe:

[]Hospitals make headlines for waiting lists and lack of access

... because of a lack of investment in frontline staff and modern diagnostic equipment. This is a PD FFailure.

[]Courts are plagued by delays,witness the postponement a few months ago of one of the very few rape cases to make it to trial

... because of a lack of investment in frontline staff and additional accommodation. This is a PD Ffailure.

[]The Garda Siochana are tied up in administration with only 10% of police admin civilianised v 40% in the UK

... because of a lack of investment in frontline staff due to a Government embargo on the hiring of staff. This is a PD Ffailure

[]The Environment department is being sued by Brussels for non-compliance with pollution contols, and it fails to halt "bungalow blitz",even in scenic areas like Donegal

... because of a lack of investment in frontline staff. As we saw in Galway, the money for the capital projects is earmarked, but the embargo on hiring staff prevents Councils from hiring the necessary Engineers. This is a PD FFailure.

[]Energy costs are rising dramatically,in part to pay absurd wages to ESB workers, such as the €140,000 a year of plant operatives in Dublin gas plants

... because the former Government policy of generating Electricity using a not-for-profit model was scrapped, and the prices had to be raised to encourage private operators to come into the market. Between the requirement for generators to make significant profits, and the over reliance on two fuel sources, we have seen our electricity prices rise from being second cheapest in Europe to second dearest. The wages of a handful of ESB staff have nothing got to do with it. This is a PD FFailure.

[]Treansportation is poorly managed:

... because of a lack of investment in buses, trains, and competent management. This is a PD FFailure.

-Dublin Aiport is third world class

... because of a lack of investment in critical infrastructure. This is a PD FFailure.

-Dublin Bus is poor at meeting schedules in Dublin and stifles competition

... because of a lack of investment in buses and competent management. This is a PD FFailure.

-Cost overruns on building motorways are colossal

... because Government policy is to over spec roads from the levels identified by the NRA. This is a PD FFailure.

By contrast,one of the Departments that works well is Education,probably because delivery is privatised at second level and universities.

.... tell that to the thousands of voters who can't get school places for their children, to the thousands of voters whose children are educated in draughty 19th century buildings with outside lavvys, or in draughty 20th century pre-fabs. Not to mention the tens of thousands of parents whose children are crammed into classrooms with 35 to 40 other children, or the many parents of autistic children who can't get funding for their special education needs. This is a PD FFailure.

So why is so much of our public sector malfunctioning?

... because a gullible populace elected a bunch of smooth talking, incompetent, gob************************es into Government twice in the last ten years.


They could find €62 million for an eVoting system they knew didn't work, but they can't hire the staff needed to make the country function properly.

This is a PD FFailure!

[patslatt]

What do you mean by your comment about delivery of education at second and third level being privatised?

Didn't you hear? A couple of years ago the Hea commissioned the OECD to look into fees and part-privatisation after they had already recommended fees in the UK.
It's done already - no matter how we vote...

Seriously though, patslatt's post is wrong here and is peppered with assumptions.

]Hospitals make headlines for waiting lists and lack of access

And? Any analysis as to why beyond saying that horribly democratic proportional representation needs to be changed?

[quote:27gadmwl]Dublin Bus is poor at meeting schedules in Dublin and stifles competition

In comparison to the privatised Buses (publicly subsidised) in the UK? Why do we need competition?

-Cost overruns on building motorways are colossal

Oh you mean the cost overruns due to public private partnerships and the incentive to create unneeded capacity?

Prime Time Investigates: The Money Pit
http://www.rte.ie/news/2005/0510/infrastructure.html

[]Energy costs are rising dramatically,in part to pay absurd wages to ESB workers, such as the €140,000 a year of plant operatives in Dublin gas plants

Er nope. The wages have practically eff all to do with it, while the pay example is a myth. The real reason why we moved from have the second lowest prices (with the same wages) to the high prices today is because of privatisation and liberalisation and the requirement to increase prices for private operators.

I posted on this here

______________
[size=7]"The oppressed are allowed once every few years to decide which particular representatives of the oppressing class are to represent and repress them."
-- Karl Marx[/size][/quote:27gadmwl]


]Hospitals make headlines for waiting lists and lack of access

And? Any analysis as to why beyond saying that horribly democratic proportional representation needs to be changed?

The health boards' board of directors were appointed primarily thanks to political connections,not business or managerial experience. Is it any surprise that the huge investment in hospitals has been bungled?

[irishpeoplearewhingers]

Yeah, the public services are not up to much, manily because they have been allowed to think that they are more than employees.

[Kevin Doyle]

Yeah, the public services are not up to much, manily because they have been allowed to think that they are more than employees.

Rubbish. Is there some sort of endemic jealousy of Public Services workers by the Private Sector or is this a carefully cultivated perception encouraged by PD neo-cons who want to erode all workers rights to squeeze every last cent of profitability out of them. Government has loaded the public services with extra tiers of management and admin strata that are designed to give the look of modernisation (HR depts, Finance, Corporate services etc etc) but all they are is capital sponges absorbing most if not all of the Millions the government keeps blindly pumping in.

[zoinks]

Yeah, the public services are not up to much, manily because they have been allowed to think that they are more than employees.

Rubbish. Is there some sort of endemic jealousy of Public Services workers by the Private Sector or is this a carefully cultivated perception encouraged by PD neo-cons who want to erode all workers rights to squeeze every last cent of profitability out of them. Government has loaded the public services with extra tiers of management and admin strata that are designed to give the look of modernisation (HR depts, Finance, Corporate services etc etc) but all they are is capital sponges absorbing most if not all of the Millions the government keeps blindly pumping in.

My girlfriend has worked as a contractor for 3 government agencies. she said they are the laziest feckers goin, they have it so good they have their first break at 10, for tea and biscuits if you dont mind.

No decision is ever made, and people frown on anyone who does make a decision, its not the done thing. Bulling is rife in all the departments. Full of mind games, leading to one of her friends having a nervious breakdown. None of the managers gave a S**t, all they had to do was show up.

Anything they do do, they get external people to do it, IT work for example. They then milk them for all they can

[Pax]

Yeah, the public services are not up to much, manily because they have been allowed to think that they are more than employees.

Rubbish. Is there some sort of endemic jealousy of Public Services workers by the Private Sector or is this a carefully cultivated perception encouraged by PD neo-cons who want to erode all workers rights to squeeze every last cent of profitability out of them. Government has loaded the public services with extra tiers of management and admin strata that are designed to give the look of modernisation (HR depts, Finance, Corporate services etc etc) but all they are is capital sponges absorbing most if not all of the Millions the government keeps blindly pumping in.

I think what the whinger is getting at is his (incorrect and non-empirical) view on human nature - there is no such thing as public service....[it closely correlates to - there is no such thing as society.]

Unfortunately this fantasy is de rigueur amongst the neo-liberals at the mo'

The Trap: Episode One (Adam Curtis, BBC)
http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=sitruc

______________
[size=7]"The oppressed are allowed once every few years to decide which particular representatives of the oppressing class are to represent and repress them."
-- Karl Marx[/size]

[irishpeoplearewhingers]

Yeah, the public services are not up to much, manily because they have been allowed to think that they are more than employees.

Rubbish. Is there some sort of endemic jealousy of Public Services workers by the Private Sector or is this a carefully cultivated perception encouraged by PD neo-cons who want to erode all workers rights to squeeze every last cent of profitability out of them. Government has loaded the public services with extra tiers of management and admin strata that are designed to give the look of modernisation (HR depts, Finance, Corporate services etc etc) but all they are is capital sponges absorbing most if not all of the Millions the government keeps blindly pumping in.

I think what the whinger is getting at is his (incorrect and non-empirical) view on human nature - there is no such thing as public service....[it closely correlates to - there is no such thing as society.]

Unfortunately this fantasy is de rigueur amongst the neo-liberals at the mo'

The Trap: Episode One (Adam Curtis, BBC)
http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=sitruc

______________
[size=7]"The oppressed are allowed once every few years to decide which particular representatives of the oppressing class are to represent and repress them."
-- Karl Marx[/size]

No, Pax. What I am getting at is that sometimes the tail wags the dog.