Gardaí struggling to pay bills - AGSI

whiteonion

How can anyone with a 50k salary be struggling? There are plenty of people in the world who live on less than €2000 per year. Saying that you're struggling on a 50k salary is just an insult to people who are really bad off.

If you have food, shelter, electricity, heating, internet and access to public services you're not struggling.

u_c_thesecond

Jazlyn Attractive File wrote: »

In the news today. "Gardaí struggling to pay bills - AGSI" The average Garda takes home about €40,000 before overtime per year. Is this not the same for most people?

I have no sympathy, Let them struggle on the 21,000 a year before tax that my partner and I live on and then thay can complain!We were sensible and got a small morgage, but them with their rental propertys. If your struggling SELL ONE OF THEM!
People losing their homes and their jobs and they blooming moaning, theres worse off people in the world!

Schnooks

Been following this thread and can't stay silent any longer. I would say, from my experience of them, that alot of Gardai in Ireland are massively overpaid, dishonest, greedy slumlords that have no real interest in helping the people they are supposed to serve. And I have never been in trouble with them before anyone says I am bitter because of a bad experience. These are merely my observations over the years.

In the town I grew up in, the main scumbags were the guards themselves - alchos, wife-beaters, thieves, perverts, you name it, they had it going on. Furnishing their house and telling the shop to f*ck off when they sent them the bill. Never paying for lunch anywhere, never paying for anything. Behaving like the schoolyard bullies that most of them are. Abuse of their imagined power. And their wives were worse, thinking that they had some sort of imagined status.

There is not a single guard that I know of in this country that doesn't have some sort of sideline going on - be it property or whatever. They pick on easy targets all the time and ingnore the real criminals.

Bitter? Yes I am, because if I was taking home 40K a year, I would be living a very comfortable life. They, like many public SERVANTS are living in a parallel universe. This country is f*cked, broke, a big fat zero. So go away Mrs Garda with your 7K a year car expenses, that is really laughable.

I am really fed up of this sense of entitlement. ALL publinc servants in this country have been massively overpaid for the last decade. The figures for the rest of Europe tell us this in black and white. There is nothing in a Garda's job description that says he/she is entitled to own a 2nd, 3rd or 4th house, yet they moan constantly about not being able to cover their 2nd mortgage. I'm sick of listening to them and their ilk, and nearly ebeyone I know ios too. So shut up and just get on with it like the rest of us are doing.

And before Bosco Boy asks his usual stooooooooopid question - I am an engineer in the private sector and take home a hell of a lot less than 40K a year, yet manage to pay a mortage, run a car, support a family and have an ok standard of living.

mikom

Schnooks wrote: »

And before Bosco Boy asks his usual stooooooooopid question - I am an engineer in the private sector and take home a hell of a lot less than 40K a year, yet manage to pay a mortage, run a car, support a family and have an ok standard of living.

Be prepared to be compared to someone without a leaving cert or one who is aged 4 or 5.
There will also probably be the use of the words anonymous, begrudger and hypocritical, combined with the phrase "I am sick of".
Basically imagine a boot stamping on a human face— forever.

Schnooks

Yes I am fully expecting the righteous backlash from certain quarters, most of who have been quite vociferous in defending their overpaid position. Funny how it is always teachers, guards etc on our public service staion's (RTE) Frontline etc. And by God, do they know how to talk about what they are entitled to. And by God does Ingrid Miley know how to report it in the news. Jack and David and Blair and Liam, your time is done, go away, you will never be listened to again by the ordinary people of Ireland.

I am outta here on a halfer to enjoy the rest of this Good Friday, so won't see any further replies for a while. Adios amigos

bamboozle

gurramok wrote: »

Stop treating depreciation along with other made up stuff as an expense then, you are making a fool of the Gardai's 'struggling case' here.

So please feel free to show how you managed to spend 320quid a month on petrol. Your real expenses are that 1k Car tax/Ins & 600 Maintenance plus a disputed amount in petrol. Nowhere near 7k per year.

And you never explained how a single person can spend 3k on 'Medical Aid'. Your numbers are seriously inflated to deceive us.

you could be waiting, figures seemed to be plucked from thin air, another poster (i think a wife of a guard) provided these figures

FYI re Medical Aid

Single Adult €25.77 p.w. or €1340 per annum
Couple €51.54 p.w. or €2680 per annum
Couple with children under 18 €62.38 p.w or €3244 per annum

HellFireClub

Bosco boy wrote: »

No! Not everyone is in the same boat, I know people who have been milking the system dry on social welfare who have more disposable income than me, in fact a hell of a lot more, I pay all my bills, I pay health insurance, my taxes, my mortgage and all the other bills that come my way, I get fcuk all overtime and rarely ever did, I have often worked for nothing like a fool because I couldn't walk away from people like you who needed my help when they were in dire straights. I've picked up body parts, I'll zipped up body bags, I've called to homes to be the face that tells them there loved one is dead, oh and ya I'm the guy who'll put you in the paddy wagon if your an abnoxious prick high on drugs telling me your taxes pay my wages. Ya I'm fcuking overpaid alright!

I have the absolute height of respect for you as someone who can do a job that I wouldn't do. But surely you knew when you applied for the job, that the very difficult tasks above, were all in a days work??? I wouldn't say, as things stand, that you are overpaid, or underpaid, but I'd say now it is where it probably should be in terms of renumeration. I still say anything upward of 40K at the moment is an excellent salary...

Sleepy

Am I the only one who thinks AGS should fire the gardaí in question?

Surely it's in violation of the terms of their employment contracts to put themselves in a financial position where they're open to corruption?

MagicSean

Schnooks wrote: »

Been following this thread and can't stay silent any longer. I would say, from my experience of them, that alot of Gardai in Ireland are massively overpaid, dishonest, greedy slumlords that have no real interest in helping the people they are supposed to serve. And I have never been in trouble with them before anyone says I am bitter because of a bad experience. These are merely my observations over the years.

In the town I grew up in, the main scumbags were the guards themselves - alchos, wife-beaters, thieves, perverts, you name it, they had it going on. Furnishing their house and telling the shop to f*ck off when they sent them the bill. Never paying for lunch anywhere, never paying for anything. Behaving like the schoolyard bullies that most of them are. Abuse of their imagined power. And their wives were worse, thinking that they had some sort of imagined status.

There is not a single guard that I know of in this country that doesn't have some sort of sideline going on - be it property or whatever. They pick on easy targets all the time and ingnore the real criminals.

Bitter? Yes I am, because if I was taking home 40K a year, I would be living a very comfortable life. They, like many public SERVANTS are living in a parallel universe. This country is f*cked, broke, a big fat zero. So go away Mrs Garda with your 7K a year car expenses, that is really laughable.

I am really fed up of this sense of entitlement. ALL publinc servants in this country have been massively overpaid for the last decade. The figures for the rest of Europe tell us this in black and white. There is nothing in a Garda's job description that says he/she is entitled to own a 2nd, 3rd or 4th house, yet they moan constantly about not being able to cover their 2nd mortgage. I'm sick of listening to them and their ilk, and nearly ebeyone I know ios too. So shut up and just get on with it like the rest of us are doing.

And before Bosco Boy asks his usual stooooooooopid question - I am an engineer in the private sector and take home a hell of a lot less than 40K a year, yet manage to pay a mortage, run a car, support a family and have an ok standard of living.

I don't have a second house nor do I have a sideline. Neither does any of the Gardaí on my unit. But please, do go on about all your "experience" with the Gardaí. Are you one of the minor criminals they pick on?

znv6i3h7kqf9ys

Sleepy wrote: »

Am I the only one who thinks AGS should fire the gardaí in question?

Surely it's in violation of the terms of their employment contracts to put themselves in a financial position where they're open to corruption?

You forget that the law doesn't apply to them

MagicSean

Jazlyn Attractive File wrote: »

You forget that the law doesn't apply to them

Source?

Nah just kidding. I wouldn't expect you to be able to back anything up.

znv6i3h7kqf9ys

k_mac wrote: »

Source?

Nah just kidding. I wouldn't expect you to be able to back anything up.

Yeah you're right but knowing something and proving something are 2 different things. You would be well aware of that. It's like Garda Perjury. Have each others backs and line up like ducks in court, all tell the same lies and sure, twill be grand lads. The Morris tribunal gave us an insight into the institution we call the Gardai. Common sense would suggest that the kind of behaviour uncovered was not a one off, but the irony is that this is the official line. Do you know any rape jokes?

angelfire9

Schnooks wrote: »

Been following this thread and can't stay silent any longer. I would say, from my experience of them, that alot of Gardai in Ireland are massively overpaid, dishonest, greedy slumlords that have no real interest in helping the people they are supposed to serve. And I have never been in trouble with them before anyone says I am bitter because of a bad experience. These are merely my observations over the years.

Can you quantify what you mean by "alot" out of the 14000 Gardai and reserves we have at the moment?

Schnooks wrote: »

In the town I grew up in, the main scumbags were the guards themselves - alchos, wife-beaters, thieves, perverts, you name it, they had it going on. Furnishing their house and telling the shop to f*ck off when they sent them the bill. Never paying for lunch anywhere, never paying for anything. Behaving like the schoolyard bullies that most of them are. Abuse of their imagined power. And their wives were worse, thinking that they had some sort of imagined status.

As a the wife of a Garda let me assure you I do not feel I have "some sort of imagined status" :rolleyes:
Furthermore as the daughter of a retired Garda and therefore as someone who has spent her entire life around Gardai of all ranks I can count on one hand the number of members I have met who have committed criminal offences (in this I would include wife-beaters, thieves etc etc)
There is a high rate of alcoholism in An Garda Siochana that I would not deny the rate of marriage break up is also extremely high unfortunately as some members prefer not to discuss their days work with their significant other when the get home so they take to bottle instead

Alcoholism is NOT a criminal offence and there are many functioning alcoholics in many walks of life
They deserve our sympathy I would have thought as opposed to our derision

Schnooks wrote: »

There is not a single guard that I know of in this country that doesn't have some sort of sideline going on - be it property or whatever. They pick on easy targets all the time and ingnore the real criminals.

Neither my father nor my husband have ANY kind of sideline going on, no second properties either
As for picking on "easy targets" and ignoring "real criminals"
FIRSTLY
Anyone who commits a crime is by definition a criminal
Be it a shop lifter or someone growing hash in their back room
The gardai have a duty to arrest them just as much as the "real criminals" like the murderers of Veronica Guerin (Paul Ward & Co) or Jerry Mc Cabe (Pearse Mc Cauley et al) or the organisers of massive crime waves like the Dundons in Limerick or Martin Cahill or John Gilligan
Are these scumbags not "real criminals"???

Do you think the Criminal Assets Bureau sits on their asses all day handing out parking tickets or speeding fines??

Schnooks wrote: »

Bitter? Yes I am, because if I was taking home 40K a year, I would be living a very comfortable life. They, like many public SERVANTS are living in a parallel universe. This country is f*cked, broke, a big fat zero. So go away Mrs Garda with your 7K a year car expenses, that is really laughable.

I notice you highlight the word "servants" do you expect the Gardai, the nurses and the teachers in Ireland to rely on a pittance to survive? Don't get me wrong I'm not saying they are earning a pittance I acknowledge that there are alot of people worse off financially than the PS workers but at what point do we start looking at saving other monies in the Public Service bill and get off the backs of the front line workers?

Schnooks wrote: »

So go away Mrs Garda with your 7K a year car expenses, that is really laughable.

Presumably I am the "Mrs Garda" to whom you are referring?
Where precisely did I refer to 7k a year car expenses?
In post no. 192 of this thread I detailed fairly precisely our annual expenses for our household
Petrol 240 per month (2880 per annum)
Car insurance 400 p.a.
Car Tax 470 p.a.
Car Maintenance and Tyres 480
Which gives a total of €4230 per annum for my husband's car

Schnooks wrote: »

I am really fed up of this sense of entitlement. ALL publinc servants in this country have been massively overpaid for the last decade. The figures for the rest of Europe tell us this in black and white. There is nothing in a Garda's job description that says he/she is entitled to own a 2nd, 3rd or 4th house, yet they moan constantly about not being able to cover their 2nd mortgage. I'm sick of listening to them and their ilk, and nearly ebeyone I know ios too. So shut up and just get on with it like the rest of us are doing.

Can you please show me ONE post on this thread or any of the other myriad of Garda bashing threads on boards where a Garda refers to his/her second mortgage?
Saying that lots of Gardai have 2nd, 3rd or 4th houses is an URBAN MYTH kinda like saying all Irish people believe in leprechauns :rolleyes:
Just because you read it somewhere doesn't make it true!

Schnooks wrote: »

And before Bosco Boy asks his usual stooooooooopid question - I am an engineer in the private sector and take home a hell of a lot less than 40K a year, yet manage to pay a mortage, run a car, support a family and have an ok standard of living.

A Garda with 11 years service DOES NOT take home a salary of €40k
The actual take home pay on a gross of €43,857 (down from €46,602 in 2008) is €29,396 per annum (after tax, PRSI, Pension, Pension Levy and USC) but before deductions like life cover, medical aid etc

According to the Insitute of Engineers in ireland
A male chartered engineer with 11-15 years experience earns on average a gross salary of €69,152
An ordinary MIEI with 11-15yrs experience earns on average €65,296
Associate Member AMIEI earns on average €52,990
A Technician (Tech IEI) earns on average €54,821
Source: http://www.midasireland.com/SurveyCDVersion.htm

ALL of which are more than 10k MORE GROSS income than a Garda with the same years experience
So pardon me if I don't bow & scrape with sympathy for your situation
You must be either grossly underpaid or you are not comparing like with like (i.e. compare gross with gross or nett with nett not gross v net or vice versa)

znv6i3h7kqf9ys

"As a the wife of a Garda let me assure you"

"some members prefer not to discuss their days work with their significant other when the get home"


"Neither my father nor my husband have ANY kind of sideline going on"


Maybe (probably) as you said they prefer not to discuss it with you when they get home if they did.
I feel asured

Also the guards you counted on one hand are the unfortunate ones that have been caught & convicted.

MagicSean

Jazlyn Attractive File wrote: »

Yeah you're right but knowing something and proving something are 2 different things. You would be well aware of that. It's like Garda Perjury. Have each others backs and line up like ducks in court, all tell the same lies and sure, twill be grand lads. The Morris tribunal gave us an insight into the institution we call the Gardai. Common sense would suggest that the kind of behaviour uncovered was not a one off, but the irony is that this is the official line. Do you know any rape jokes?

What a mismatched load of rants all stuck into one paragraph which justifies none of what you previously said.

CDfm

I imagine that Gardai are suffering in the credit squeeze with the rest of us and lots of them have mortgages too.This type of expenditure is difficult to reduce.

whiteonion

CDfm wrote: »

I imagine that Gardai are suffering in the credit squeeze with the rest of us and lots of them have mortgages too.This type of expenditure is difficult to reduce.

If they took at a mortgage a couple of years ago why should the "credit squeeze" make it harder for them to repay the mortgage, surely the montly repayments are the same now as then no?

Anyways, when you get a mortgage you should think about what would happen if you get long term ill or if you lose your jobs. You can't think everything is going to be rosy forever when you make huge decisions lake taking on a mortgage.

angelfire9

Jazlyn Attractive File wrote: »

"As a the wife of a Garda let me assure you"
"some members prefer not to discuss their days work with their significant other when the get home"
"Neither my father nor my husband have ANY kind of sideline going on"
Maybe (probably) as you said they prefer not to discuss it with you when they get home if they did.
I feel asured
Also the guards you counted on one hand are the unfortunate ones that have been caught & convicted.

I am well aware of the financial situations of both my father & husband and I am 110% certain that neither of them have more than the family home as regards property its not exactly something you can hide! :rolleyes:

I did say with reference to alcoholism within the force that "some members do not discuss their days work with their other half"
Firstly neither my father nor my husband fall into the "some members category" as neither are alcoholics thankfully and both of them do discuss their work with their significant other's i.e. my mother and I

I would compliment you on your attempts to totally and completely twist my statements but that would probably be against the charter :rolleyes:

I would however recommend the use of a spell checker when posting your replies

In every line of work there will be idiots or bad eggs that will do things to bring the rest of their respective work colleagues into disrepute

It happens with accountants, civil engineers, builders, electricians, pharmacists i could go on and on and on but I don't make the habit of writing off an entire profession based on the actions of a few, it is a pity that others are so disingenuous when speaking about the Gardai

angelfire9

whiteonion wrote: »

If they took at a mortgage a couple of years ago why should the "credit squeeze" make it harder for them to repay the mortgage, surely the montly repayments are the same now as then no?

Anyways, when you get a mortgage you should think about what would happen if you get long term ill or if you lose your jobs. You can't think everything is going to be rosy forever when you make huge decisions lake taking on a mortgage.

If you suffer from long term illness or lose your job then you should have mortgage protection which will cover those eventualities
That is not a particularly relevant argument in these circumstances

As for the "credit squeeze" firstly there is such a thing as interest hikes and secondly your mortgage is given on the basis of your income and the amount given is calculated to allow you to retain a basic amount of income after your mortgage is paid on a monthly basis
The pay cuts that the Gardai (and other public servants) have taken have eroded that disposal income to such an extent that many members are having trouble making ends meet and that is the crux of the issue

latenia

angelfire9 wrote: »

at what point do we start looking at saving other monies in the Public Service bill and get off the backs of the front line workers?


Saying that lots of Gardai have 2nd, 3rd or 4th houses is an URBAN MYTH kinda like saying all Irish people believe in leprechauns :rolleyes:
Just because you read it somewhere doesn't make it true!


A Garda with 11 years service DOES NOT take home a salary of €40k
The actual take home pay on a gross of €43,857 (down from €46,602 in 2008) is €29,396 per annum (after tax, PRSI, Pension, Pension Levy and USC) but before deductions like life cover, medical aid etc


ALL of which are more than 10k MORE GROSS income than a Garda with the same years experience
So pardon me if I don't bow & scrape with sympathy for your situation
You must be either grossly underpaid or you are not comparing like with like (i.e. compare gross with gross or nett with nett not gross v net or vice versa)

The cops as landlords thing is far from an urban myth-I used to work in the Revenue section that dealt with gardaí and most of my time was spent processing their returns for rental income. Anecdotally, most people I know who have rented for any length of time over several properties will have had a garda as their landlord at some stage.

Another interesting trend I noticed was the number of gardaí who 'inherited' property and other bequeaths from unrelated elderly people living in their area. I'm sure they'll say it was recognition of the care and attention they received from compassionate gardaí but a cynic might see opportunism and exploitation.

Putting the bare gross salary or takehome pay figures doesn't give an accurate picture of the real value of a garda's remuneration. They can retire on half their salary after 30 years service and receive 1.5 years salary as a 'retirement present' from Joe Taxpayer. Put it this way: a bean-garda could retire at 48 and reasonably expect to live to her mid-eighties, all the time drawing down index-linked money for doing nothing.

That something has to give here is not a matter of ideology-it's basic arithmetic.

angelfire9

latenia wrote: »

The cops as landlords thing is far from an urban myth-I used to work in the Revenue section that dealt with gardaí and most of my time was spent processing their returns for rental income. Anecdotally, most people I know who have rented for any length of time over several properties will have had a garda as their landlord at some stage.

Another interesting trend I noticed was the number of gardaí who 'inherited' property and other bequeaths from unrelated elderly people living in their area. I'm sure they'll say it was recognition of the care and attention they received from compassionate gardaí but a cynic might see opportunism and exploitation.

Putting the bare gross salary or takehome pay figures doesn't give an accurate picture of the real value of a garda's remuneration. They can retire on half their salary after 30 years service and receive 1.5 years salary as a 'retirement present' from Joe Taxpayer. Put it this way: a bean-garda could retire at 48 and reasonably expect to live to her mid-eighties, all the time drawing down index-linked money for doing nothing.

That something has to give here is not a matter of ideology-it's basic arithmetic.

I will have to take your word for it as regards the revenue commissioners and the garda landlords it has not been my experience but there you go....

As for elderly people bequeathing houses to Gardai? Really? I've never heard that one!

As for the retirement pension
€20k pension after 30 years service is not exactly a gravy train
Especially considering Gardai have a lower life expectancy than the average joe soap
The average old age pension is currently €230.30 per week which is €12k per annum and you don't even need to have 30 full years of contributions to get it and there are alot of private sector workers who have private pensions that can claim the state pension as well, it should be remembered that gardai who are retiring now (those that joined pre 1995) have no entitlement to the state pension
The lump sum is a benefit I agree

FYI there is no such thing as a "ban-garda" anymore

latenia

angelfire9 wrote: »

€20k pension after 30 years service is not exactly a gravy train

Good point, except the garda with 30 years service will be on a lot more than 40k and, with promotion, a multiple of this amount. Ring around some pension companies and ask them to price up this retirement package then try to tell me gardaí don't have a sweet deal.

angelfire9

latenia wrote: »

Good point, except the garda with 30 years service will be on a lot more than 40k and, with promotion, a multiple of this amount. Ring around some pension companies and ask them to price up this retirement package then try to tell me gardaí don't have a sweet deal.

A garda with 30 years service currently earns €45,793 which is not "alot more" than 40k
With promotion a Sergeant with full service earns circa €50k and an inspector circa €60 (I cannot find precise payscales for same) these are not "multiples" of 40k so thank you for your exaggeration but these ^^^ are the facts!

Offy

angelfire9 wrote: »

A Garda with 11 years service DOES NOT take home a salary of €40k
The actual take home pay on a gross of €43,857 (down from €46,602 in 2008) is €29,396 per annum (after tax, PRSI, Pension, Pension Levy and USC) but before deductions like life cover, medical aid etc

According to the Insitute of Engineers in ireland
A male chartered engineer with 11-15 years experience earns on average a gross salary of €69,152
An ordinary MIEI with 11-15yrs experience earns on average €65,296
Associate Member AMIEI earns on average €52,990
A Technician (Tech IEI) earns on average €54,821
Source: http://www.midasireland.com/SurveyCDVersion.htm

ALL of which are more than 10k MORE GROSS income than a Garda with the same years experience
So pardon me if I don't bow & scrape with sympathy for your situation
You must be either grossly underpaid or you are not comparing like with like (i.e. compare gross with gross or nett with nett not gross v net or vice versa)

What year was the survey taken from Engineers Ireland? We dont get anywhere near that anymore. That survey is 6 years old, what a poor attempt to mislead people. Shame on you, those are exactly the shameful tactics members of AGS use on us public and thats why we dont feel sorry for them when they are struggling on €40k.

angelfire9

Offy wrote: »

What year was the survey taken from Engineers Ireland? We dont get anywhere near that anymore. That survey is 6 years old, what a poor attempt to mislead people. Shame on you, those are exactly the shameful tactics members of AGS use on us public and thats why we dont feel sorry for them when they are struggling on €40k.

It was the most recent one I could find
Can you point me in the direction of a more recent one?
Are you telling us that engineers have suffered such drastic pay cuts that their salary has dropped to less than 40k per annum from a 2006 figure of €60,564 for those 4 ranks??

According to RecruitIreland in a survey taken in 2011 engineers can earn up to €108,000 for a Mechanical Engineer in a management position supervising less than 100 staff
Source:http://www.recruitireland.com/careercentre/engineeringsurvey/
The lowest engineer salary shown is €28k for a presumably entry level position as a polymer engineer

According to Engineers Ireland in 2008

Overall, salaries have increased across all categories by an average of 6%. The greatest increase is seen among Engineering Technicians (Eng Tech IEI) at 18% (€49,531), and Technicians (TechIEI) at 17% (€57,634).
Associate Engineers (AEng AMIEI) can expect to earn an average gross salary of €64,056, while Chartered Engineers (MIEI) are up by 13% at €80,039, a 5% greater leap than was seen in the 2003 vs 2005 figures. The salaries of Fellows (FIEI) show strong growth at 14% (e101,944), while the salaries of Ordinary Members fall just below average at 5% (€54,184).

Source: http://members.engineersireland.ie/resource/collection/389139AE-5743-4CA4-9E32-D32D2BBED308/Engineers_Ireland_Salary_Survey_2008.pdf

g_moriarty

angelfire9 wrote: »

It was the most recent one I could find
Can you point me in the direction of a more recent one?
Are you telling us that engineers have suffered such drastic pay cuts that their salary has dropped to less than 40k per annum from a 2006 figure of €60,564 for those 4 ranks??

Well there are thousands and thousands of construction engineers (building collapse), mechanical engineers (sr technics) and even computer engineers (dell) who have effectively had their salary cut to €9,776/year (dole €188 x 52) which is a fair bit lower than €40,000/year.

How many gardai have lost their jobs in the last 3 years?

Offy

angelfire9 wrote: »

It was the most recent one I could find
Can you point me in the direction of a more recent one?
Are you telling us that engineers have suffered such drastic pay cuts that their salary has dropped to less than 40k per annum from a 2006 figure of €60,564 for those 4 ranks??

Heres your retort so:
Try looking up 'salary survey engineers Ireland' for the most recent one but you will find it is also years old. Yes I am telling you that engineers have taken hugh cuts and thats the ones that are lucky enough to still have jobs. If you really want to know what engineers earn these days look at www.recruitireland.ie example here and here. As you can see engineers dont get paid what you think we get paid. Some engineers do earn up to €100k but they are few and far between. €40k to most of us is a bloody good income. Those 4 ranks as you call them mean little in most forms of engineering, I never benifited from any of the three I had when I used to sign up to EI but thats just me.

Additionally your figures from 2008 are misleading, things in 2008 were a lot better than they are now.

MagicSean

g_moriarty wrote: »

Well there are thousands and thousands of construction engineers (building collapse), mechanical engineers (sr technics) and even computer engineers (dell) who have effectively had their salary cut to €9,776/year (dole €188 x 52) which is a fair bit lower than €40,000/year.

How many gardai have lost their jobs in the last 3 years?

Dole money is not a salary because you get it for doing nothing. It is ridiculous to compare it to the salary of anyone who actually works for their pay.

MagicSean

Offy wrote: »

Additionally your figures from 2008 are misleading

So are most figures quoted about Garda pay.

angelfire9

g_moriarty wrote: »

Well there are thousands and thousands of construction engineers (building collapse), mechanical engineers (sr technics) and even computer engineers (dell) who have effectively had their salary cut to €9,776/year (dole €188 x 52) which is a fair bit lower than €40,000/year.

How many gardai have lost their jobs in the last 3 years?

This is not about people who have lost jobs though

I am responding to this comment:

Schnooks wrote: »

I am an engineer in the private sector and take home a hell of a lot less than 40K a year, yet manage to pay a mortage, run a car, support a family and have an ok standard of living.

I lost my own job so I am well aware that people who are now unemployed have sustained massive paycuts from over 40k to next to nothing

But I am trying to point out that people some who are criticising Garda payscales are grossly understating their own income in order to make the Garda salary seem overly generous