Staff Shortages in Ireland.

How is that going to work?

Tell the government that if they dont start making inroads into housing and reduce cost of living, they withdraw labour. Who would work for e10.50 an hour. Its depraved with the cost of living and rent...

Join the pyjama brigade or emigrate...

At the risk of appearing to be anti-immigration, I'm going to make a couple of points regarding the staff shortages.

Any country with a growing population needs extra houses, extra services and so on. If the population grows willy-nilly and no plan is put in place to train a similarly increased proportion of our youth to provide those services, then we are going to end up with problems - i.e. shortages. Personnel, housing, hospital beds - you name it.

Our population has grown by 1.2 million in the last twenty years, or around 30%. Do we train 30% more as doctors, dentists, social workers etc than we did in 2002? If not, then we clearly have a problem.

A couple of years back in the heat of the early months of the Covid crisis the government promised us that they would double the number of ICU beds. I have checked the numbers, and they are way off target. This is typical of how things are done in this country.

The graphic in post no. 8 tells us that in the year previous to April 2022 we had 61k net immigrants. Add to that whatever immigration has occurred since then, plus the Ukranian refugees, and we probably have had a 3% to 4% population increase in under two years; but I haven't seen a plan that will take this into account.

Look at Germany in comparison. Since 1960, the population has grown by only 14%. Such a slow growth rate allows for real benefits for the population, as they do not have to fund a voracious appetite for new construction, education and so on.

Much of our immigration is not to feed Irish needs, but the needs of US companies that only use Ireland as a low-tax platform. And please - don't tell me that those companies employ 100,000 Irish people, so all is good.

All is not good: while the employment is welcome, at this point in time we need to reconsider how we do things and deal with the needs of Irish society rather the wants of the MNCs.

Do you not understand what "a degree" is? It is just an acknowledgement that some body is certifying that you have achieved a certain level of competence to a certain standard. Not all of them are created equal. If you get a degree in tiddlywinks from UCD then don't expect that to open the same doors as say getting a degree in law from Trinity.

If you want to learn sufficient textbook material to have a degree in a trade related field then go and be an architect or an engineer or similar. You have that option now. If you don't get the points in the Leaving to go straight to university, then there are alternate routes by going through the ITs or whatever they are called now. I'd imagine though that if you went to current apprentices and said "oh, btw, we are doubling the textbook component of your training so that you have double the amount of exams and we will now be covering more advanced theoretical material" that plenty wouldn't be too happy. Sure why not throw in some courses on applied mathematics etc.

If there is a GAA club and a soccerball club in my area, well I can't expect to join the soccerball club and be allowed to catch the ball and solo it up the field when I play a match.

What is your snobbery vis-a-vis a trade vs a degree? Both a valid in their own rights and they are for different things. The tradesperson can actually do a job. A civil engineer might be able to come out and calculate the load bearing properties of a wall or tell you what materials need to be used where, but the blockie can actually put the wall up. The engineer probably couldn't. There is no need to be snobby and think that the "degree" means the former is "better".

Well-said.

The NTA are as useful as tits on a bull. No drivers are going to be fined for not accepting cards, they drive off as soon as they tell you its cash only. How is someone meant to report this to the useless NTA?

Here's an example of a taxi driver that was caught ripping off customers, and he was allowed to continue operating, and his fine was less than the amount he ripped the customers off by. Does he live up to the amazing standards and training you bang on about?

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/courtandcrime/arid-40697327.html

Nobody forces those drivers to drive for Uber, they do it of their own free will. If it was as bad as you make it out to be then there wouldn't be anybody driving for Uber would there?

We're the ones with the scarcity.

If we want more trades then we're the one in the weak bargaining position.

And as such we shouldnt be telling the people that are choosing whether or not to help our sorry asses that they must initially 'serve time' on a 'bottom rung'. As a sub minimal pay skivvy of sorts.

Classes first, then entry to the market as someone with knowledge. Then we can pair them with an employer to serve some time if need be. Not as a breakfast-roll go getter, but as an almost fully ready tradesperson.

Lets not forget, there are plenty of other jobs for them to choose from out there. The less appealing we make it for them the fewer tradespeople we'll be left with.

What on earth?

Are we on the same page here.

Do the classroom sessions first, thats all.

A reformat which cuts out the bit where the people WE need ... are initially treated like sub minimal pay arsholes. Like its still the wretched 1950's or whenever that system was adopted.

Gen-Z-ers wont work like that BRUH. They swipe left on that. The vibes are off.

Gen Z then.

Youre doubting everything I had to say on the basis that I typed X instead of Z?

You f r.