RTE News challenges Michael Martin “If Ireland is a wealthy country headed for the tens of billions in surpluses then why do we look and feel like a poor country?”
RTE News challenges Michael Martin “If Ireland is a wealthy country headed for the tens of billions in surpluses then why do we look and feel like a poor country?”
>We know the surpluses are headed for the 10s of billions in the next few years so why do we look and feel like a poor country in so many aspects of society? We don’t have enough houses, we have record homeless figures, we can’t finish hospitals on time, we’ve hundreds of children waiting for spinal surgeries, the hospital consultant groups say there is a record of 913,000 thousand people on some form of waiting lists, theres hundreds of autistic children denied their constitutional right to an education because of too few school places, people are stuck for hours in traffic every day, we can’t build a Metro system, the water infrastructure isn’t working……why are you failing to deliver on so many essentially services for Irish citizens?
Michael Martin obviously not comfortable with the questioning. Yesterday he said these were just Sinn Fein conspiracy theories…..I despair….
marquess_rostrevor on
Well at least Irish people never travel abroad to see how the rest of western Europe does it, that would be awful.
Oh.
Gek1188 on
He’s such a clown.
PISA results in Ireland for reading, maths and science are tredning downwards.
We are also below the OECD average in reading, maths and science.
*Edit: Misread the graphs we are above average in OECD for reading, maths and science.*
shinmerk on
RTÉ engaging in the counterproductive “Banana Republic” stuff we see on social media.
Apparently they’re pro government though!
Willing-Departure115 on
It’s entirely fair to point out the deficiencies of our rather rich country – like the fact >100,000 are waiting over 12 months for a health procedure – without having to claim it feels like a poor country. It undermines the question and sounds shrill.
I grew up in Ireland when it was a poor country. When we had net emigration for decades, when life expectancy was well over a decade lower than it is today, when educational attainment was anything but universal, when interest rates were in the teens to keep things under control… I could go on.
We have a lot of problems that need to be solved, but saying it feels like a poor country is silly.
MyIdoloPenaldo on
Because our government, and the civil service and county councils by extension, is one that thrives off of inefficiency, bereaucracy and cronyism. They cannot be relied upon to undertake big projects. Look at the children’s hospital and Dublin’s metro, for example. Because of this, there is no drive, or urgency to undertake significant reforms that we need. And why would they? What’s the point when hundreds of thousands of us, especially those of us in the middle/upper classes will vote them in anyway?
CaregiverNo2642 on
Sadly a lot of the wealth is ex pats coming back to build houses on family land and creating businesses. This is great but does create a 2 tier class system …
DaemonCRO on
Just to pop a little note – my child is on a waiting list since he was 6 months old. He is 2.5 now. We have solved his problem through private hospitals (Beacon), but we are still on the waiting list. I would like to see when will his appointment actually be.
And don’t worry, him being on a list won’t delay anyone. When we finally get the appointment and tell them that we won’t take it, that will simply make the next kid on the list happier. But I just want to see when will he actually get the life saving procedure from the state.
InfectedAztec on
I’m not a FF voter but I think MM answered that loaded question very well. It’s fine to acknowledge where we need to improve, but when you basically call ireland a shit hole you’ve lost me.
no_one_66 on
did he say “lessons have been learned” ?
Ok_Leading999 on
Tell em about the bike shed Micheál.
Professional_Elk_489 on
For majority of people poor country = no metro, rich country = metro
Denmark – driverless metro = super rich
Switzerland – trains that go over the alps = super rich
Ireland will always look poor without one, it’s as simple as that
tronborg2000 on
Wow an actual important question put to a minister. Fancy that.
earth-calling-karma on
Mickey Martin promised to end waiting lists in 2 years. That was in the year 2000. The real question is, Michael, why are you still here?
ishka_uisce on
In fairness, in most ways, we do not look or feel like a poor country. I would question whether this person has ever been to a poor country. But some things certainly don’t work as well as they could or should.
PBJellyChickenTunaSW on
She didn’t seem particularly prepared for any follow up engagement after her initial question unfortunately
Buaille_Ruaille on
He’s such a condescending fanny.
Holiday_Toe5779 on
His nastiness, arrogance and ego all on display here – ballbag looking fecker personifies the indifference of our Dail betters
RAhead1916 on
Good on them taking these mickey mouse politicians to task. There should be more of it carried out by the MSM
xnatey on
Just on the metro it’s great that we want a metro/underground train etc but without a public transport police like other European countries it’ll be riddled with problems and antisocial behaviour that is even more difficult to escape.
Talmamshud91 on
Im not smart enough to know where to start but u wonder does anybody knows if the things he’s taking credit for improving i.e. cancer survival rates etc. are more to do with global trends than the great work of the irish government?
Like is he and every other politician just taking credit for universal quality of life improvements that are happening in all first world countries.
IzLitFam on
Typical politician response. “You have one sided research”, they hate to admit things are bad because it makes them look bad(shift blame, one will blame immigrants, other blames the ruling party, others blames foreign institutions). The numbers/stats he quotes are equally as idiotic as the GDP of Ireland on paper. Says an incomplete story, more like a story you want to hear not the truth.
GustavoLovestein777 on
Modern Ireland is a shithole Michael. No ifs, ands or buts.
TheBadassOfCool on
Never thought I’d feel proud of RTE.
Probably a once off.
RaccoonVeganBitch on
Wow, she went for it, I’m glad. I’m actually fed up with our current Government, I wish I could leave but I can’t afford it.
25 Comments
>We know the surpluses are headed for the 10s of billions in the next few years so why do we look and feel like a poor country in so many aspects of society? We don’t have enough houses, we have record homeless figures, we can’t finish hospitals on time, we’ve hundreds of children waiting for spinal surgeries, the hospital consultant groups say there is a record of 913,000 thousand people on some form of waiting lists, theres hundreds of autistic children denied their constitutional right to an education because of too few school places, people are stuck for hours in traffic every day, we can’t build a Metro system, the water infrastructure isn’t working……why are you failing to deliver on so many essentially services for Irish citizens?
Michael Martin obviously not comfortable with the questioning. Yesterday he said these were just Sinn Fein conspiracy theories…..I despair….
Well at least Irish people never travel abroad to see how the rest of western Europe does it, that would be awful.
Oh.
He’s such a clown.
PISA results in Ireland for reading, maths and science are tredning downwards.
We are also below the OECD average in reading, maths and science.
[https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/pisa-2022-results-volume-i-and-ii-country-notes_ed6fbcc5-en/ireland_01173012-en.html](https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/pisa-2022-results-volume-i-and-ii-country-notes_ed6fbcc5-en/ireland_01173012-en.html)
*Edit: Misread the graphs we are above average in OECD for reading, maths and science.*
RTÉ engaging in the counterproductive “Banana Republic” stuff we see on social media.
Apparently they’re pro government though!
It’s entirely fair to point out the deficiencies of our rather rich country – like the fact >100,000 are waiting over 12 months for a health procedure – without having to claim it feels like a poor country. It undermines the question and sounds shrill.
I grew up in Ireland when it was a poor country. When we had net emigration for decades, when life expectancy was well over a decade lower than it is today, when educational attainment was anything but universal, when interest rates were in the teens to keep things under control… I could go on.
We have a lot of problems that need to be solved, but saying it feels like a poor country is silly.
Because our government, and the civil service and county councils by extension, is one that thrives off of inefficiency, bereaucracy and cronyism. They cannot be relied upon to undertake big projects. Look at the children’s hospital and Dublin’s metro, for example. Because of this, there is no drive, or urgency to undertake significant reforms that we need. And why would they? What’s the point when hundreds of thousands of us, especially those of us in the middle/upper classes will vote them in anyway?
Sadly a lot of the wealth is ex pats coming back to build houses on family land and creating businesses. This is great but does create a 2 tier class system …
Just to pop a little note – my child is on a waiting list since he was 6 months old. He is 2.5 now. We have solved his problem through private hospitals (Beacon), but we are still on the waiting list. I would like to see when will his appointment actually be.
And don’t worry, him being on a list won’t delay anyone. When we finally get the appointment and tell them that we won’t take it, that will simply make the next kid on the list happier. But I just want to see when will he actually get the life saving procedure from the state.
I’m not a FF voter but I think MM answered that loaded question very well. It’s fine to acknowledge where we need to improve, but when you basically call ireland a shit hole you’ve lost me.
did he say “lessons have been learned” ?
Tell em about the bike shed Micheál.
For majority of people poor country = no metro, rich country = metro
Denmark – driverless metro = super rich
Switzerland – trains that go over the alps = super rich
Ireland will always look poor without one, it’s as simple as that
Wow an actual important question put to a minister. Fancy that.
Mickey Martin promised to end waiting lists in 2 years. That was in the year 2000. The real question is, Michael, why are you still here?
In fairness, in most ways, we do not look or feel like a poor country. I would question whether this person has ever been to a poor country. But some things certainly don’t work as well as they could or should.
She didn’t seem particularly prepared for any follow up engagement after her initial question unfortunately
He’s such a condescending fanny.
His nastiness, arrogance and ego all on display here – ballbag looking fecker personifies the indifference of our Dail betters
Good on them taking these mickey mouse politicians to task. There should be more of it carried out by the MSM
Just on the metro it’s great that we want a metro/underground train etc but without a public transport police like other European countries it’ll be riddled with problems and antisocial behaviour that is even more difficult to escape.
Im not smart enough to know where to start but u wonder does anybody knows if the things he’s taking credit for improving i.e. cancer survival rates etc. are more to do with global trends than the great work of the irish government?
Like is he and every other politician just taking credit for universal quality of life improvements that are happening in all first world countries.
Typical politician response. “You have one sided research”, they hate to admit things are bad because it makes them look bad(shift blame, one will blame immigrants, other blames the ruling party, others blames foreign institutions). The numbers/stats he quotes are equally as idiotic as the GDP of Ireland on paper. Says an incomplete story, more like a story you want to hear not the truth.
Modern Ireland is a shithole Michael. No ifs, ands or buts.
Never thought I’d feel proud of RTE.
Probably a once off.
Wow, she went for it, I’m glad. I’m actually fed up with our current Government, I wish I could leave but I can’t afford it.