Garda Sergeant can't afford food

kneeler

Guards are very greedy nowadays. They are always putting on the poor mouth. That is probably because their families were in farming.

Boombastic

Bloody*Mary wrote: »

Lot of people overextended themselves during the boom.

I don't have to name names.

When ordinary citizens get involved in multi-million projects, it can only end badly.

How the fcuk can a nation of around five million run up so much bad deals?

Like a punter heading for the racecourse and slapping the total mortgage on #6!

Would the bookie not look for collateral?

And then expecting to be bailed out if the nag loses!

Look! People got greedy, punters got sucked in, easy money,based their outgoings on overtime and expenses.

you can't expect others to bail you out if you bet on the future.

Things change, Schmidt happens, don't expect the taxpayer to bail out a bad punt.

What?

bigroad

kneeler wrote: »

Guards are very greedy nowadays. They are always putting on the poor mouth. That is probably because their families were in farming.

Well said and also very true.

TwoShedsJackson

kneeler wrote: »

Guards are very greedy nowadays. They are always putting on the poor mouth. That is probably because their families were in farming.

Three generalisations in three sentences, impressive.

dvpower

tayto lover wrote: »

That whole story smells of media bullsh1t to be honest.
I cannot see any Garda coming out and stating that as fact or their Union/Rep body also stating it. It seems like media/Govt propaganda to me. Up to their old divide and conquer tricks again i'd say.

You think the Indo made this story up including a direct quote from a member of the AGSI executive?
What do you think was the Government involvement in this fantastical ruse?

Bloody*Mary

Boombastic wrote: »

What?

So you have no view on the post contents?

HondaSami

kneeler wrote: »

Guards are very greedy nowadays. They are always putting on the poor mouth. That is probably because their families were in farming.

All 14500 of them? that's a lot of farming families.

Boombastic

Bloody*Mary wrote: »

So you have no view on the post contents?

Did the Garda get involved in multi million euro deals. Then spend a day at the races losing money and now expects the taxpayer to bail them out?


I'm confused

jam_mac_jam

snubbleste wrote: »

This Garda sergeant lives within walking distance of his workplace and walks to work or as he says
"I often walk to work because I can't afford to put petrol in the car,"
but wait he's got kids going to private schools costing €24k per annum
"Two of my children are in private schools and one is at third level. I have to be earning €24,000 for schooling and another €30,000 for the mortgage. If these cuts happen, I'll definitely sink." http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/frontline-workers-fear-10pc-cuts-will-sink-them-29066724.html

What's he not saying?

Is this a joke? 24k for schools.How can somebody that stupid get out of the house never mind be working...

jam_mac_jam

Boombastic wrote: »

Did the Garda get involved in multi million euro deals. Then spend a day at the races losing money and now expects the taxpayer to bail them out?


I'm confused

Well that Garda did if he is spending 30k on a mortgage. He must be an idiot.

HondaSami

jam_mac_jam wrote: »

Is this a joke? 24k for schools.How can somebody that stupid get out of the house never mind be working...

What do you mean? That's for two kids, how much should it be in your opinion?

jam_mac_jam

HondaSami wrote: »

What do you mean? That's for two kids, how much should it be in your opinion?

Free, like lots of people who cant afford to send their kids to private school. He can't put petrol in his car and he is paying for private school, he is stupid or lying.

HondaSami

jam_mac_jam wrote: »

Free, like lots of people who cant afford to send their kids to private school. He can't put petrol in his car and he is paying for private school, he is stupid or lying.

Where he sends his kids to school is his business and it's not up to us to question his reasons, how long are they going to that school? it would only disrupt them to move them now.

Just because he is a public servant does not mean the general public can dictate how he spends his money.

HondaSami

HondaSami wrote: »

Where he sends his kids to school is his business and it's not up to us to question his reasons, how long are they going to that school? it would only disrupt them to move them now.

Just because he is a public servant does not mean the general public can dictate how he spends his money.

I would argue that the opposite is the case in this situation: He's got his expenses and is attempting to dictate how much money he should be paid based on their associated extravagance.

Maggiesims

HondaSami wrote: »

Where he sends his kids to school is his business and it's not up to us to question his reasons, how long are they going to that school? it would only disrupt them to move them now.

Just because he is a public servant does not mean the general public can dictate how he spends his money.

The public are allowed to have an opinion, he has gone public with this story looking for sympathy that he has no money for food or petrol.

If he is spending 24k on private education well it is obviously a no brainer!!!
Send them to public school or else do without food & petrol, leave them in private school because he cannot disrupt them and move them now:rolleyes:!!
We all have decisions to make about cost cutting so he should make some, in my opinion

Rasheed

kneeler wrote: »

Guards are very greedy nowadays. They are always putting on the poor mouth. That is probably because their families were in farming.

Yup, you can't keep ahead of the guards/ farmers. One or the other mightn't be so bad but to be both? Oh Jasus you have the measure of them anyway!

/ intense sarcasm.

jam_mac_jam

HondaSami wrote: »

Where he sends his kids to school is his business and it's not up to us to question his reasons, how long are they going to that school? it would only disrupt them to move them now.

Just because he is a public servant does not mean the general public can dictate how he spends his money.

Why doesn't he keep it his business then and not go crying to the newspapers.
I didn't say I can dictate how he can spend his money, I said he was stupid and would say the same about a private sector worker whining about how broke they are.

cruderbeef

HondaSami wrote: »

All 14500 of them? that's a lot of farming families.

There are about 120,000 farmers in Ireland.

Potential-Monke

jam_mac_jam wrote: »

Why doesn't he keep it his business then and not go crying to the newspapers.

IIRC, it's his wife that went to the media, not him.

It was a bad move on their part, it's obvious now. While a lot of the income is gone on necessary expenditure, his private expenditure is what's leaving them down. He needs to reshuffle his priorities, and might be in a better off situation.

However, his story does not reflect the members of Garda rank, a lot of whom are in serious financial debt and simple cannot afford any more cuts, same as the majority of people in Ireland.

Boombastic

Potential-Monke wrote: »

IIRC, it's his wife that went to the media, not him.

It was a bad move on their part, it's obvious now. While a lot of the income is gone on necessary expenditure, his private expenditure is what's leaving them down. He needs to reshuffle his priorities, and might be in a better off situation.

However, his story does not reflect the members of Garda rank, a lot of whom are in serious financial debt and simple cannot afford any more cuts, same as the majority of people in Ireland.

Different Sergeant, today's paper
One garda sergeant said he would "definitely sink" if his €57,000-a-year earnings, which include premium pay and allowances, fell.

jam_mac_jam

Potential-Monke wrote: »

IIRC, it's his wife that went to the media, not him.

It was a bad move on their part, it's obvious now. While a lot of the income is gone on necessary expenditure, his private expenditure is what's leaving them down. He needs to reshuffle his priorities, and might be in a better off situation.

However, his story does not reflect the members of Garda rank, a lot of whom are in serious financial debt and simple cannot afford any more cuts, same as the majority of people in Ireland.

You do understand if there is no cut in wages then there will be cuts elsewhere? That it will be the people of Ireland that suffer the cuts so they can send their kids to private schools, pay their mortgages on their two or three houses. I am sick and tired of their bleating.

At the very least they could come up with better stories, can they not wheel out the younger ones who bought a house and are now doomed, no we have to hear about people who are spending 24k on fees. Its a bit insulting really. There are people in this country earning what they are pissing away on their big mortgages or their fees so they can pretend to be middle class and I am meant to feel sorry for them. They really need to sort their PR out. Its a joke and they clearly don't live in the real world if they think that's a bad situation.

Potential-Monke

Boombastic wrote: »

Different Sergeant, today's paper
One garda sergeant said he would "definitely sink" if his €57,000-a-year earnings, which include premium pay and allowances, fell.

My bad, cheers for the clarification. And i agree, he should start sending his kids to public schools and save himself a bomb. We all have to make difficult decisions, and this is an extremely viable one for them.

jam_mac_jam wrote: »

You do understand if there is no cut in wages then there will be cuts elsewhere? That it will be the people of Ireland that suffer the cuts so they can send their kids to private schools, pay their mortgages on their two or three houses. I am sick and tired of their bleating.

At the very least they could come up with better stories, can they not wheel out the younger ones who bought a house and are now doomed, no we have to hear about people who are spending 24k on fees. Its a bit insulting really. There are people in this country earning what they are pissing away on their big mortgages or their fees so they can pretend to be middle class and I am meant to feel sorry for them. They really need to sort their PR out. Its a joke and they clearly don't live in the real world if they think that's a bad situation.

As i said, i agree with him changing his kids to public schools as it will save him a tonne of money. But your right, there needs to be more coverage of the members of junior Garda rank who are in trouble. That Sergeant was stupid to say what he did. But there are thousands of members of Garda rank who are in way worse off situations, me being one.

I worked out what i earn against what i spend, and i have €25 a week disposable income, that's after everything has been paid, including food and petrol. Add maybe €100 every 4th week in the "big" cheque, and all that is used to pay off borrowings accrued in the previous 3 weeks. I can't save, and every other week there's another bill or expense which i need to borrow for, pay it back every 4th week, and the cycle repeats.

The only extravagance i have which i won't get rid of is the internet, as it's currently my only source of entertainment. If i didn't have it, i would be depressed faster than Eeyore! Recently downgraded from a (worthless) 2.0L petrol car to a free 1.6 petrol (brothers), which needs repairs, which i had to get a loan to fix.

Any more cuts, and i'm forced into a position of not paying certain bills/loans, which is a burden on the taxpayer, as for my mental stability i will probably just get the fook out of this country.

And, before anyone starts, everything i got loans for i was well able to pay for 3 years ago, and with all the taxes and charges put on me in those 3 years, I can only barely sustain myself, in the hope that no unexpected, large expense comes on me.

April O Neill

What he pays in school fees is more than what I earn in a year. :-/

pragmatic1

April O Neill wrote: »

What he pays in school fees is more than what I earn in a year. :-/

Yep more than me too.

Stheno

jam_mac_jam wrote: »

Free, like lots of people who cant afford to send their kids to private school. He can't put petrol in his car and he is paying for private school, he is stupid or lying.

People, calm down.

The man earns 57k GROSS pay year, and my reading is that his is calculating what the gross cost of his mortgage and fees are each year, which is a total of 54k.

Otherwise he'd be earning 57k gross and paying out 54k net on fees/mortgage which after the amount of tax he pays on 57k gross is not possible.

So net, he's paying (as I pointed out earlier) a mortgage of 1250 per month, and fees of 1k per month.

He's one child in college and two in school, so that's 330e per child per month.

If he moved them out of private school he'd save sure, but he's not spending what you think he is based on the figures given. And for some reason (I know a few) parents who send their children to private school are truly averse to moving them to a state funded school as they genuinely perceive it will negatively impact the child, and will go through all sorts of deprivation to maintain the private school.

Don't get it myself, but there you go.

WoollyRedHat

He should follow these guys, they had a grand time;
http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/GoodLife3BBC_468x426.jpg

April O Neill

pragmatic1 wrote: »

Yep more than me too.

Like, a LOT more. :-/

greenoverred

Seems like a bullsh1t story or the man was misquoted. If he is earning €57,000 per year whats he paying in paye, prsi, pension related, usc, medical aid, etc. Whats left then in his yearly wage to pay this €30,000 mortgage and €24,000 schooling fees.

I dont know why the independent puts out stories like this but I do suspect an agenda and it seems it works because all the fools believe whatever they see.

dvpower

greenoverred wrote: »

Seems like a bullsh1t story or the man was misquoted. If he is earning €57,000 per year whats he paying in paye, prsi, pension related, usc, medical aid, etc. Whats left then in his yearly wage to pay this €30,000 mortgage and €24,000 schooling fees.

I dont know why the independent puts out stories like this but I do suspect an agenda and it seems it works because all the fools believe whatever they see.

A named Garda (the VP of the AGSI) with direct quotes. If the Indo were lying, wouldn't they make the lie just a little subtle?

Is his 57k base pay or does it include overtime and allowances? - in AGS this would make a big difference.

AK333

April O Neill wrote: »

Like, a LOT more. :-/

FFS I live on one fifth of this 'poor garda's salary'. I am sick of listening to public service whingers saying they can't take another cut. Try being a former member of the private sector, who has since lost their job, and is living on welfare. Its soul destroying. I've just got a very small part time job and I'm like a person who won the lotto! These fckers need to live in the real world - I'd love to see them live on 200 euro a week with a small child. Idiots :mad:

SHOVELLER

Utter nonsense from a typically hyterical indo tabloid. Anyone who believes this propaganda is simple.

Stheno

dvpower wrote: »

A named Garda (the VP of the AGSI) with direct quotes. If the Indo were lying, wouldn't they make the lie just a little subtle?

Is his 57k base pay or does it include overtime and allowances? - in AGS this would make a big difference.

The article states it includes them. And if you'd read through the whole thread, you'd realise that overtime has been drastically cut in recent years.

AK333

Stheno wrote: »

The article states it includes them. And if you'd read through the whole thread, you'd realise that overtime has been drastically cut in recent years.

Boo fcking Hoo - live within your means.

strandroad

Stheno wrote: »

The man earns 57k GROSS pay year, and my reading is that his is calculating what the gross cost of his mortgage and fees are each year, which is a total of 54k.

Otherwise he'd be earning 57k gross and paying out 54k net on fees/mortgage which after the amount of tax he pays on 57k gross is not possible.

He may have a working spouse, because fees/mortgage are usually given in net...

dvpower

Stheno wrote: »

The article states it includes them.

It doesn't. It mentions premium pay and allowances, not overtime.

Potential-Monke

AK333 wrote: »

FFS I live on one fifth of this 'poor garda's salary'. I am sick of listening to public service whingers saying they can't take another cut. Try being a former member of the private sector, who has since lost their job, and is living on welfare. Its soul destroying. I've just got a very small part time job and I'm like a person who won the lotto! These fckers need to live in the real world - I'd love to see them live on 200 euro a week with a small child. Idiots :mad:

Can i just ask what you're paying out of that €200 a week, just for comparison purposes. It's also quite soul destroying being in a job for x amount of years, budgeting according to salary, and still coming out with so little that you literally cannot afford to do anything/go anywhere, all the while working a full week dealing with scum and potentially putting your life on the line.

dvpower wrote: »

It doesn't. It mentions premium pay and allowances, not overtime.

Overtime, which is basically non-existent anymore. A lot of members, myself included, never budgeted with overtime in mind. It's not a guarantee, and being honest, most of us didn't want any. It may have been different for members in Dublin, who lived on their overtime, but outside of Dublin, it's not a guarantee and you can't budget with overtime in mind.

collegeme

mhge wrote: »

He may have a working spouse, because fees/mortgage are usually given in net...

Yes but its not hard to gross them up yourself.
Iirc the guard said "i'd have to be earning x to cover mortgage and x to cover fees"
You'd be foolish to think that hes talking net figures.

If your expenses were 40knet for the year youd have to be earning at least 60k
Gross.

AK333

Potential-Monke wrote: »

Can i just ask what you're paying out of that €200 a week, just for comparison purposes. It's also quite soul destroying being in a job for x amount of years, budgeting according to salary, and still coming out with so little that you literally cannot afford to do anything/go anywhere, all the while working a full week dealing with scum and potentially putting your life on the line.


10 euro in an oil envelope
15 in house insurance envelope
10 in car insurance envelope
15 in phone/internet envelope
10 in electricity envelope
10 in car tax envelope
15 for coal etc each week

then I pay for food - approx 60

so far I'm up to 145

then 40 to credit union
and petrol and child school costs and party presents etc etc

DO NOT be looking for sympathy for someone on 57k per year and start sprouting overtime/additional benefits

I live on less than 10k with a child as do lots of other people.

If you don't like you job, change it - in other words put up or shut up. Guards knew what their job description was, don't start moaning about dealing with scum/criminals. Hello, that's what you are paid the big bucks for.

Potential-Monke

collegeme wrote: »

Yes but its not hard to gross them up yourself.
Iirc the guard said "i'd have to be earning x to cover mortgage and x to cover fees"
You'd be foolish to think that hes talking net figures.

If your expenses were 40knet for the year youd have to be earning at least 60k
Gross.

It'd be closer to €75k gross for €40k net in AGS.

AK333 wrote: »

10 euro in an oil envelope
15 in house insurance envelope
10 in car insurance envelope
15 in phone/internet envelope
10 in electricity envelope
10 in car tax envelope
15 for coal etc each week

then I pay for food - approx 60

so far I'm up to 145

then 40 to credit union
and petrol and child school costs and party presents etc etc

DO NOT be looking for sympathy for someone on 57k per year and start sprouting overtime/additional benefits

I live on less than 10k with a child as do lots of other people.

If you don't like you job, change it - in other words put up or shut up. Guards knew what their job description was, don't start moaning about dealing with scum/criminals. Hello, that's what you are paid the big bucks for.

Ok, relax, i only asked a question. Do you not think that Gardai have these expenses too? And in a lot of cases there's a very high, negative equity mortgage. You can go on to say that we shouldn't have bought the big houses in the boom, but so did hundreds of thousands of those in the public sector. We also have loans, which are usually quite large also (Garda Credit Union loans were piss easy to get, very few questions asked). Again, all personal responsibility, but all loans taken out with the knowledge of having the wage to back it up.

And i knew exactly what i was signing up for, and exactly what i would be earning for it. It's a thankless, rarely positive job. I knew that. I did not know that the justice system would make everything you do pointless. I did not know that x amount of years down the line i'd be an easy target due to not being able to stand up for myself. I did not know, when getting the loans/mortgage, that my wages would be decimated with taxes.

It's easy to say shut up or put up, but when you have a mortgage and loans, you want to keep paying them back. You don't want to be a burden to society. But, i'll give you one thing on that. Any more cuts, and i'll be gone. Simple as that. Can't afford any more cuts, and if they come in, the Government (read: taxpayer) is going to be left with my debt, as i'll be out of this country. Not looking for sympathy, just telling it how it is. In a global economic crises, every other country increased or kept current police numbers, we cut them.

Also, you obviously have a grudge. At least you don't mask it.

collegeme

Potential-Monke wrote: »

It'd be closer to €75k gross for €40k net in AGS.

Depending on tax credits etc. (Married v single )

Either way i have a different view. I earn 1/5 of that guard (working 3full days) and while i cant wait to be earning around 60k...its not all that rosey. They more you earn the more tax you pay. I choose not to work 5days the net effect is jyst not worth it to me. Id be working 2 full days to take home €100 per week extra....no thanks.
While 60k looks amazing to some, you may be amazed to see how little of the 60k he takes home.

K-9

HondaSami wrote: »

What do you mean? That's for two kids, how much should it be in your opinion?

The state already subsidises private education, if he can't afford it he should change the schools, it isn't a reason against a pay cut.

woodoo

So this guy can't afford food but can afford private heath insurance and private education?

If thats the case he can afford food he just chooses to spend his money elsewhere.

collegeme

AK333 wrote: »

10 euro in an oil envelope
15 in house insurance envelope
10 in car insurance envelope
15 in phone/internet envelope
10 in electricity envelope
10 in car tax envelope
15 for coal etc each week

then I pay for food - approx 60

so far I'm up to 145

then 40 to credit union
and petrol and child school costs and party presents etc etc

DO NOT be looking for sympathy for someone on 57k per year and start sprouting overtime/additional benefits

I live on less than 10k with a child as do lots of other people.

If you don't like you job, change it - in other words put up or shut up. Guards knew what their job description was, don't start moaning about dealing with scum/criminals. Hello, that's what you are paid the big bucks for.

Im not far off what you earn and i have 2kids but your attitude stinks. You have a grudge based on what yoyr situation is. You earn 10k and mainly take home most of that. This guatd earns 57k but probably only takes home just under 30k including ot etc.
Oh anfd you say"if you dont like your job change it" sure one could say to you if your not happy wirh your pay...get a better paying job?? See its not that simple is it?

AK333

collegeme wrote: »

AK333 wrote: »

Im not far off what you earn and i have 2kids but your attitude stinks. You have a grudge based on what yoyr situation is. You earn 10k and mainly take home most of that. This guatd earns 57k but probably only takes home just under 30k including ot etc.
Oh anfd you say"if you dont like your job change it" sure one could say to you if your not happy wirh your pay...get a better paying job?? See its not that simple is it?

I am not going to a national paper and moaning and only used my circumstances to show that its a nonsence to say you can't live on 57k. As it happens I just got a part time job for 6 hrs a week and I'm absolutely delighted. I wasn't saying get a better paid job - did you even read my post - I was referring to the previous post that said guards have to deal with scum etc, I said he knew the job description when he went for the job - no good moaning about the clientele now

read the posts properly before you try and run them down ....

noodler

The salary is not the issue here.

Potential-Monke

AK333 wrote: »

I am not going to a national paper and moaning and only used my circumstances to show that its a nonsence to say you can't live on 57k. As it happens I just got a part time job for 6 hrs a week and I'm absolutely delighted. I wasn't saying get a better paid job - did you even read my post - I was referring to the previous post that said guards have to deal with scum etc, I said he knew the job description when he went for the job - no good moaning about the clientele now

read the posts properly before you try and run them down ....

You do realise it's more than just dealing with scum right? Or let me guess, you probably think all we do is drive around arresting the "easy" targets, eating free doughnuts and drinking free tea, getting free meals at restaurants, etc.

Well nothing could be further from the truth. Dealing with scum is maybe 20% of the job. Dealing with management is far, far worse. You don't get told that when you're joining. You're led to believe that they look out for you, have your back, when all they want is to move up in the ladder, and don't care who they've to step on in the process. Your back is constantly up against a wall, and we haven't even started on the paperwork yet.

Alas, no one will ever know what it is like unless they do the job. The Official Secrets Act stops us from going into detail, the threat of Criminal Proceedings for doing/saying something, combined with the threat of a breach of the Garda Code, also stops us from saying too much. If i had known all this before i joined, i would have ran. But i wanted to do my bit for this country, and it was AGS or the Army. I picked the wrong one. I'm potentially putting my job on the line by even saying this on an open forum!

You obviously have a problem with the wages of AGS, and i believe it stems from your current earnings.

collegeme

AK333 wrote: »

collegeme wrote: »

I am not going to a national paper and moaning and only used my circumstances to show that its a nonsence to say you can't live on 57k. As it happens I just got a part time job for 6 hrs a week and I'm absolutely delighted. I wasn't saying get a better paid job - did you even read my post - I was referring to the previous post that said guards have to deal with scum etc, I said he knew the job description when he went for the job - no good moaning about the clientele now

read the posts properly before you try and run them down ....

I did read your post properly. My main arguement is that 50k+ is by no means big bucks. I work with people every day who earn multiples of what i do and cant survive. Now im talking in some cases 10times my income and cant afford the family holiday that i can .Some are foolish but in my opinion 50k aint big bucks when you see whats actually taken home.

AK333

Read the OP post. This is not about salary is about someone saying the couldn't afford food. I was asked to say what my weekly money went on for comparison - so I did (silly me).

Its nothing to do with being a guard or not being a guard or overtime or benefits or anything else - I thought the thread was about someone earning a good wage but choosing to spend it on other things than food - and I said that is a nonsense, and I still stand by that post.

Now as far as what a guard's job description is I take your explanation as fact cos I don't know. But, they knew what the job was when they applied for it - no good moaning about it now. And lots of us would do different jobs - hindsights a great thing but don't presume you know what I think. You don't. And I don't live in Dublin or a big city, don't judge everyone by your prejudices.

Now I'm bowing out of this thread because you are changing it into an us versus them

Potential-Monke

AK333 wrote: »

And I don't live in Dublin or a big city, don't judge everyone by your prejudices.

Where did that come from? (Genuinely, can't make a connection)

I'm not attacking you, i'm making an observation based on the posts you made. They come across as i described.

But perhaps it is best to leave this to a different thread, or none at all. Too often threads of this nature turn into an us vs them affair, you are correct.

7 7 12

I dunno what's happening here, if we keep slashing garda pay it opens the door for corruption (very common among police in poorer countries), bribes, and forcing gardai to live in more working class areas (can you imagine a garda living in ballyfermot or somewhere like that). Yet we cannot afford the current wage levels so the only solution is either hire less gardai and pay them current rates (solves above problems) or slash their pay (creates above problems).