Staff Shortages in Ireland.

Lactose intolerance maybe?

I think the Onion said it best: High cost of living now outweighs the benefits.

Residents of Dublin will have to get used to businesses closing due to staff shortages. The situation won't get any better in the near future.

The problem is the excessive cost of renting in and around Dublin and the lack of availability of decent housing. Nowhere in Europe have I seen such long queues just to view one apartment.

Also many of the jobs in hospitality have been done by foreigners, EU nationals from other countries, Poland, Southern Europe etc... The salaries in hospitality and various service oriented jobs simply don't pay enough to pay the rent for a studio apartment or a one bedroom.

Not everybody is comfortable in sharing accommodation with a bunch of strangers.

These staff shortages are a direct result of the housing crisis in Dublin. The problem is that this is negated.

Any landlord will ask for confirmation of your employment and income. The minimum wage will not even meet the annual rent required for a solid letting agreement. Thus staff shortages will be the norm for the future. It's simply not feasible or even possible to work for minimum wage salaries in Dublin.

Ireland in general has no real room to grow unless more housing comes onto the market and the prices actually drop. The current housing crisis will be the new brain drain out of Ireland, if not solved soon.

Living in shared housing with a bunch of strangers is nobody's dream at any age and in any job. Only very desperate people do that, but then you get a desperate service for a desperate salary.

Grown adults who are at the life stage of wanting to live alone should not be in minimum wage jobs: minimum wages are starter or tide-me-over jobs, not intended to support a household.

Great for students, people on working holidays, retired people wanting to earn extra, etc.

People with disabilities who don't have the capacity to progress beyond minimum wage get social housing support.

There are not vast numbers of people actually on minimum wage. I don't believe any healthcare workers are (possible exception being cleaners with little experience).

when people DO get taxed to the bollix, as we are…

people are slightly placated if, in return for paying all that tax.. that we have attainable, accessible, efficient and effective public services. We don’t have anything close quite simply…

not only that, what services are available we find ourselves having to wait an eternity for, meanwhile we see people step off an aircraft get prioritised over citizens, over taxpayers for many of these services from housing to healthcare and all in between in double quick time….basically we are an afterthought and paying top dollar for the privilege.

so for your outlay of effort and tax you get SFA back in this country….you / we are second class, an afterthought… and paying top dollar.

i know people who in the summer / autumn are moving abroad, can’t get the rewards here for their experience, aptitudes.

Why would you put in 40 hours a week to earn SFA ?

The problem in Dublin is, one either has to be very desperate or very rich to move there.

Even employees at one of the US American multinational IT companies end up living in shared housing even though their salary is usually rather good and higher than that of teachers, nurses and guards - or only good by mainland European standards. Once they come to Dublin and reality sets in few tend to stay longer. This produces only transient workers, people coming and going, and no community.

Also, the housing crisis in Dublin is man made and a direct result of the financial crisis and getting property values up by a recovering economy but very limited to no fresh supply of house building.

Employers can complain all they want about staff shortages, they won't be able to employ anybody as they have no place to stay in.

There's many issues but there's loads of money, where's the loads of money? It's tied up in the personal wealth of billionaires. Any individual with wealth in excess of 1bn should be taxed at 90% for every cent over that 1bn. The money isn't being distributed back into society. There's no god reason Jeff Bezos for example should have 300bn of personal wealth while he has employees on the payroll at minimum wage. This makes no sense. Any landlord with more than 5 homes should be taxed at 80% of the rental income, not the profit because they can put expenses against the profit. Government policy on housing for the past 25 years has failed, stop and change before it gets worse. Put an immediate stop on investment and vultures buying residential properties.

They get medical cards, meanwhile folks who work their whole lives, and Irish students, dont get medical cards. Even 80 year old pensioners who paid into the system 40 years don't always get full medical cards.

I see posts from students asking how they can get a rotten tooth extracted because they can't afford the dentist. Only option is to scrounge up the cash somehow or go to an emergency dental hospital.

I also have seen many reports of students who are living in cars, or on couches. No accommodation for them. They ARE homeless.

So yeah, folks just in the country a day DO get priority quite often. I feel that's wrong.

And there are not a small number of asylum seekers/ISP/refugees enjoying this priority. That is just a fact.

Controversial opinion: Ireland should provide everyone with a medical card. Other countries seem to manage it, Ireland is doing well, and society, in general, is more productive than at any other time in human history.

I don't think there's much in the way of dental beyond extractions provided by the medical card, and what you get for paying PRSI is one checkup visit a year. I'm lucky to live far enough North that I don't have to go to the dentist here. Everyone deserves a better standard of care.

If the state isn't there to protect the well-being of every citizen then what's the point? Is it just there to do the bare minimum to keep order while providing bodies to work for the upper echelons?