Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie

Why should our ambulance drivers be paid more than hospital consultants in Finland.

Options
  • 12-10-2009 5:54pm
    #1
    jimmmy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,539 ✭✭✭


    There was an interesting two page feature in Saturdays Irish independent, featuring interviews with six foreigners who work or had worked in the Irish public service. They all compared wages with the public sector wages in their own European countries, and all thought Irish wages astronomically high,( eg double) in hospitals, universities and other areas of the public service. Other perks like hours worked , holidays, pensions etc were all out of line - to the taxpayers expense - in Ireland. Even I was surprised at what they had to say. Anyone else see the article / admire their honesty ?


«134567…18

Comments

  • Options
    #2
    ronbyrne2005
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,494 ✭✭✭ronbyrne2005


    Dont criticise nurses you baxtard, they look after the sick babies!!!!!! :mad:


  • Options
    #3
    lmimmfn
    Registered Users Posts: 3,553 ✭✭✭lmimmfn


    well if you have ~17% of the voting population in the civil service you only need to keep them happy and convince another 23% of the voting population to vote for your party to get/stay in government guaranteed( with an 80% voters turnout situation ).
    Is it any wonder theyre paid so well, have such good pensions, job security and have unions with so much power that they can make to sure they dont budge on anything

    Im not for bashing the public service, but cmon FFS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


  • Options
    #4
    AARRRGH
    Closed Accounts Posts: 12,382 ✭✭✭✭AARRRGH


    ronbyrne2005 wrote: »
    Dont criticise nurses you baxtard, they look after the sick babies!!!!!! :mad:

    They'd do the job for free if they could! They only care about the children.


  • Options
    #5
    NewDubliner
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,615 ✭✭✭NewDubliner


    jimmmy wrote: »
    There was an interesting two page feature in Saturdays Irish independent,
    Always a good source for unbiased, well-researched information.:rolleyes: Was it written by their restaurant critic or their soccer correspondent?

    How much is a mortgage repayment in Finland & how much here?


  • Options
    #6
    alfranken
    Closed Accounts Posts: 66 ✭✭alfranken


    NewDubliner wrote: »
    Always a good source for unbiased, well-researched information.:rolleyes: Was it written by their restaurant critic or their soccer correspondent?

    How much is a mortgage repayment in Finland & how much here?

    Stop bad mouthing Barry Egan and Smarty O'Ballsy


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #7
    jimmmy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,539 ✭✭✭jimmmy


    ronbyrne2005 wrote: »
    Dont criticise nurses
    Nobody is criticising them, not even the nurse from another EC country who could not and can not believe how much nurses are paid in this country....up to three times more than his own country. Criticing the pay day their unions have negiotaed with our govt is another thing though, esp when we are borrowing 25 or 26 billion a year. Don't shoot the messenger..


  • Options
    #8
    NewDubliner
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,615 ✭✭✭NewDubliner


    jimmmy wrote: »
    Don't shoot the messenger..
    jimmmy...your question was
    "Why should our ambulance drivers be paid more than hospital consultants in Finland?"
    One possible answer is that because the Irish private sector profiteered enormously in the housing market and the ambulance workers had to seek pay raises in order to be able to afford an over-priced private sector-built house.

    Can you tell us who wrote the articles that you so admire, did they use their real names?


  • Options
    #9
    Diarmuid
    Registered Users Posts: 3,981 ✭✭✭Diarmuid


    NewDubliner wrote: »
    How much is a mortgage repayment in Finland & how much here?
    What's that got to do with anything?

    Are you telling me if I take out a nice big mortgage I'm entitled to a bigger salary? Sh1t! I must have missed that memo! Who's got the number for AIB?


  • Options
    #10
    lmimmfn
    Registered Users Posts: 3,553 ✭✭✭lmimmfn


    NewDubliner wrote: »
    One possible answer is that because the Irish private sector profiterred enormously in the housing market and the ambulance workers had to seek pay raises in order to be able to afford an over-priced private sector-built house
    why? who said they needed to buy a house, they couldnt rent like the rest of us did due to the stupid prices of houses?
    If they paid a fortune for a house thats their problem and their current negative equity.
    Im not against ambulance drivers but common sense should prevail.


  • Options
    #11
    Bucklesman
    Registered Users Posts: 636 ✭✭✭Bucklesman


    The inflationary pressure of the property boom. Not that the Indo could be expected to understand that, of course.


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #12
    NewDubliner
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,615 ✭✭✭NewDubliner


    Diarmuid wrote: »
    What's that got to do with anything?
    Are you telling me if I take out a nice big mortgage I'm entitled to a bigger salary? Sh1t! I must have missed that memo! Who's got the number for AIB?
    jimmmy, asked a question and we must help him find the answer.

    Big mortgages to meet cost of grossly overpriced houses fuelled demand for more pay: yes or no?


  • Options
    #13
    tallaght01
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,778 ✭✭✭tallaght01


    What figures were they using for consultants' pay in Finland?

    In Finland (and I think the rest of scandinavia) Your basic salary is advertised as the bones of your salary. But that only makes up about 50-60% of their wages.

    I think consultants over there are on about 60k basic, but they earn roughly that again with other allowances.

    That's for the basic week. They get extra again for overtime. Or they can just take that as time off.

    Undoubted inflationary pressures on Irish wages. But would be interesting to see if they were comparing ambos' wages with the consulatants' actual pay.


  • Options
    #14
    P. Breathnach
    Registered Users Posts: 12,089 ✭✭✭✭P. Breathnach


    NewDubliner wrote: »
    jimmmy, asked a question and we must help him find the answer.

    Big mortgages to meet cost of grossly overpriced houses fuelled demand for more pay: yes or no?

    It's a mistake to make too strong a link between pay rates and mortgage repayments. The linkage that should be considered is that between pay and cost of living. If the nominal pay in Ireland is twice that in Country X, and price levels in Ireland are twice those in Country X, then the Irish employee and the employee in Country X are on a par: they enjoy the same standard of living.

    That said, I certainly have the impression (it's an impression, so I am not linking to supporting evidence) that Irish workers have in recent years enjoyed a higher standard of living than those in other EU states. Our prices tend to be a good deal higher than in other places, but our pay levels have been a great deal higher. That differential seems to me to exist across both the public and the private sectors.

    What say you jimmmy? Do you believe that Irish shop assistants and accounting technicians and motor mechanics and production operatives have been much higher paid than their counterparts elsewhere?


  • Options
    #15
    jmayo
    Registered Users Posts: 13,186 ✭✭✭✭jmayo


    Jimmy to answer your original question ...

    Why should our ambulance drivers be paid more than hospital consultants in Finland ?

    It's because they are ENTITLED to it.

    How long have you being posting around here?
    For God's sake you should know the answer by now ;)

    I am not allowed discuss …



  • Options
    #16
    Idbatterim
    Registered Users Posts: 17,853 ✭✭✭✭Idbatterim


    can they not just hire civilians to be ambulance drivers? im sure a taxi driver would take up the offer, for about a quarter for what the current ambulance driver is getting!


  • Options
    #17
    ardmacha
    Registered Users Posts: 7,476 ✭✭✭ardmacha


    There was an interesting two page feature in Saturdays Irish independent

    was this is a magazine or in the regular paper and so on the web (for discussion purposes)?
    In Finland (and I think the rest of scandinavia) Your basic salary is advertised as the bones of your salary. But that only makes up about 50-60% of their wages.

    such arrangements have something going for them.


  • Options
    #18
    Paulzx
    Registered Users Posts: 1,971 ✭✭✭Paulzx


    Idbatterim wrote: »
    can they not just hire civilians to be ambulance drivers? im sure a taxi driver would take up the offer, for about a quarter for what the current ambulance driver is getting!

    I wasn't aware that all our taxi drivers are qualified paramadics now.You learn something new every day


  • Options
    #19
    Idbatterim
    Registered Users Posts: 17,853 ✭✭✭✭Idbatterim


    right so I take it that the driver is also a paramedic! exscuse the ignorance but nothing, nothing would shock me here! including paying a paramedic to be a driver and just performing driving duties! incase any of the other paramedics needed a second opinion on the way back to the hospital!


  • Options
    #20
    Diarmuid
    Registered Users Posts: 3,981 ✭✭✭Diarmuid


    NewDubliner wrote: »
    Big mortgages to meet cost of grossly overpriced houses fuelled demand for more pay: yes or no?
    yes or no to what?
    P. Breathnach wrote:
    That differential seems to me to exist across both the public and the private sectors.
    Probably depends on which part of the public sector. In the sectors which face competition for external suppliers then probably not much differential in salaries (or they would not be able to compete). To the parts of the private sector which were competing against local talent, then that was more likely inflated by credit (in your anecdotal/hypothetical scenario)

    You can draw your own conclusions about the public sector.


  • Options
    #21
    NewDubliner
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,615 ✭✭✭NewDubliner


    Diarmuid wrote: »
    yes or no to what?
    That people looked for higher wages to help meet the huge cost of buying a basic house.


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #22
    Diarmuid
    Registered Users Posts: 3,981 ✭✭✭Diarmuid


    Paulzx wrote: »
    I wasn't aware that all our taxi drivers are qualified paramadics now.You learn something new every day
    I guess they could train up a good few more but the courses are controlled by the HSE


  • Options
    #23
    Diarmuid
    Registered Users Posts: 3,981 ✭✭✭Diarmuid


    NewDubliner wrote: »
    That people looked for higher wages to help meet the huge cost of buying a basic house.
    Sure. Or pay for a new car / holiday / apartment in Budapest.

    House prices were high was because of all the money floating around, thanks to people over-reached themselves on credit, unimpeded by the banks or the government. Plenty blame to go around


  • Options
    #24
    BroomBurner
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,737 ✭✭✭BroomBurner


    Idbatterim wrote: »
    right so I take it that the driver is also a paramedic! exscuse the ignorance but nothing, nothing would shock me here! including paying a paramedic to be a driver and just performing driving duties! incase any of the other paramedics needed a second opinion on the way back to the hospital!

    I thought everyone knew that all ambulance drivers were paramedics. They always need two people when responding to an incident, and if it's a particularly bad incident, two paramedics will be required. Seeing as they can't actually guess what the incident is going to be, two trained paramedics is the most cost-effective and safe way to work it.

    Or would you perhaps like if the HSE took on someone only trained to drive, and had two paramedics in the back, further inflating the public sector payroll?


  • Options
    #25
    Paulzx
    Registered Users Posts: 1,971 ✭✭✭Paulzx


    Idbatterim wrote: »
    right so I take it that the driver is also a paramedic! exscuse the ignorance but nothing, nothing would shock me here! including paying a paramedic to be a driver and just performing driving duties! incase any of the other paramedics needed a second opinion on the way back to the hospital!

    Please, please , please tell me you are taking the piss here. Having two paramedics on an ambo is now a waste of money? Oh help. This country is truly Fu*cked and i don't mean in an economic sense


  • Options
    #26
    NewDubliner
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,615 ✭✭✭NewDubliner


    Diarmuid wrote: »
    Sure. Or pay for a new car / holiday / apartment in Budapest.
    Or, more likeley, to have just enough money to pay a huge mortgage for a basic, over-priced, private-sector-supplied house.


  • Options
    #27
    Heroditas
    Registered Users Posts: 9,505 ✭✭✭Heroditas


    Paulzx wrote: »
    I wasn't aware that all our taxi drivers are qualified paramadics now.You learn something new every day

    Sure they're renowned as world-class economists, experts in all sports and have professorships in anthropology.
    Working as paramedics? Piece of cake....


  • Options
    #28
    Diarmuid
    Registered Users Posts: 3,981 ✭✭✭Diarmuid


    What's the training required for a paramedic? Is this it? 28 weeks training + 1 year internship + driving licence. What's the average salary?


  • Options
    #29
    Diarmuid
    Registered Users Posts: 3,981 ✭✭✭Diarmuid


    NewDubliner wrote: »
    Or, more likeley, to have just enough money to pay a huge mortgage for a basic, over-priced, private-sector-supplied house.
    You must have a chip on your shoulder the size of Alaska.

    Would you prefer to have a Department of House Building? Minister on 250k + unvouched expenses and the brickies won't lay a block for less than €20/block :rolleyes:


  • Options
    #30
    Dr Galen
    Registered Users Posts: 7,373 ✭✭✭Dr Galen


    you'll find the info on the standards and education here


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #31
    ronbyrne2005
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,494 ✭✭✭ronbyrne2005


    Diarmuid wrote: »
    What's the training required for a paramedic? Is this it? 28 weeks training + 1 year internship + driving licence. What's the average salary?
    Its great money. My father was a fireman and paramedic with Dublin Fire Brigade. Working unsocial hours got great money. He used to go in some christmas days at 6pm for night shift and not have much work to do and sleep most of night and get nearly a grand (gross) for shift!


Advertisement