Archive for the 'quango watch' Category

Turkeys vote for Christmas

Published July 7th, 2010 in report and quango watch. 0 Comments

The board of the Office of Tobacco Control (OTC) says it “welcoms the Government’s decision to merge the OTC into the HSE in 2011 as part of the Government’s ongoing rationalisation programme.”

The OTC’s Chairperson, Norma Cronin, said that this move will “ensure that Ireland’s ongoing work to create a tobacco-free society – in which Ireland is a world leader – will stay at the heart of public health.”

Well if that is the case why was the OTC established as a seperate entity in the first place?

Usually QUANGOs are established to take hot topics away from Government Departments, and thus shield ministers. For example the Road Safety Authority (RSA) is a QUANGO that performs tasks that were mostly previously performed by the Deparment of Transport.

Well who wanted to keep Tobacco at arms lenght when the OTC was established? Well everyone I suppose, its a substance that while being legal is most unfashionable.

Well the OTC now falls under the umbrella of the HSE, but its still ok for the Minister for Health, as the HSE - itself a QUANGO of sorts - it at arms lenght from the Department of Health.

But on a more serious note, in fairness to the powers that be…

“In March 2004, Ireland became the first country in the world to successfully introduce smoke-free workplaces legislation which has already conferred huge health and environmental benefits on the population as a whole. Many countries across the world have looked to Ireland as an example and have since followed suit.”

and that single decision, often forgotten, is a credit to the Government.

Irish QUANGOs enjoy their monopolies

Published January 30th, 2010 in waiting lists, applus, irish, MOT, bad customer service, sgs, the only show in town, ireland, NCTS, quango watch, irish cabinet and government. 2 Comments

In the early years of the two thousands I needed to sit a Driving Test. At the time the Dept of Transport had a monopoly on driving tests. The waiting list was about 6 months long. The Dept hada monopoly, and they knew it. It was illegal to drive without a licence, and of course insurance (which followed), so they could have the list as long as they wanted and no one could do anything.

They weren’t quite the only show in town, there were stories on the grapevine of people travelling to the UK (Northern Ireland) to sit driving tests there. They could then convert their UK licences to Irish ones in a simple quick process - although there were other stories that people actually kept their UK licences as that was a way of avoiding Irish penalty points. I love peoples ingenuity!

Well times move on and now aparently the waiting time for a  driving test in Ireland is acceptable. Well, it must be, because you don’t hear about it anymore! At the time the Minsiter didn’t do or say much publically about the waiting list. Tests have since been farmed out to a QUANGO called the RSA, so should things get bad again he can say its “not my Dept”! This of course is why Ministers create QUANGOs.

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Another QUANGO has recently begun enjoying its monopolistic position in Ireland. It is called the National Car Testing Service - or NCT (mental note: never put the word Service in the name of an organistion, it’s redundant.

Now from the tim of it’s introduction it has been mandatory to have, and of course display (a seperate legal concept), a valid NCT cert. However, the reality was that some drivers ignored the NCT and only got one when they were about to sell their car as not having an NCT decreased the price.

However, things changed on the 1st May 2009. On that date five new offences for which penalty points can be given were introduced. Those include failure to have an NCT certificate or failure to rectify a fault indentified by the NCT.

When this was announceda lot of motorists became very anxious and the NCT switchboard became jammed with enquiries, and their website went down.

Three of the new offences carry a maximum sanction of five points (too many for a what we term a “passive crime”), including failing to have an NCT up to date, an offence for which there is currently also a fine of €1,500.

The five new categories will bring to 42 the total number of penalty point offences under the system, which was introduced under the Road Traffic Act in 2002.

Now, the NCT always has a monopoly, but now that customers have to take the test, they have stopped issuing reminder letters. The NCT is run by a private sector company, and as we know from textbooks the first goal of a private sector company is make maximum profits.

My NCT disc expires next week, and I can’t get an appointment for six weeks, should I drive my car without a disc? Before if you did at least you could have aletter up your slieve showing a booking date, but now you don’t even have that.

Whats next? needing a tax clearance cert to get an NCT?

National Property Services Regulatory Authority

Published February 14th, 2009 in auctioneers, shane ross is a great man, auctioneering, regulation, private security authority model, too many categories, quango watch and red tape. 1 Comment

The National Property Services Regulatory Authority (NPSRA), what a long name, six words, where two or three would suffice.

  1. National - a redundant word
  2. Property- ok
  3. Services - a reduncant word
  4. Regulatory - I could go either way on this word
  5. Authority - ok, the current preferred suffix of QUANGOs

How about The Property Authority? The Property Services Authority? alas no those would be too similar to the The Property Registration Authority which became the umbrella name for The Land Registry and Registry of Deeds.

ok then, if I might continue thinking outloud, how about The Property Services Regulatory Authority? That is in essence what its already called, but at least we removed the redundant word National as it added nothing to the story, viz one would hardly imagine that without it there could be confusion as to whether of not the Authority had any powers beyond the Pale. Perhaps the word was included to make a witty acronym, NPSRA, em no that means nothing. Indeed within Ireland the word National can be sensitive. Some could assume the Authority included the counties of Northern Ireland in its remit. Even the suffix “of Ireland” or the prefix “The Irish” are questionable in names for this same reason.

So scrap that name entirely. I belive that Auctioneer should appear in the name, because that is word that the man on the street, and the existing Acts relating to the profession use. How about the Auctioneers Authority or Auctioneers Regulatory Authority. The Authority does after all seek to regulate licensed Auctioneers why be so vague and use the words Property Services, I hate the word Service it sounds like it was lifted from a Business textbook.

Now that we have settled on a name, Auctioneers Regulatory Authority, or ARA, which sounds like the Irish word Aire meaning place?, which is a nice bonus.

Where does the Private Residential Tenencies Board (PRTB) fit into the picture? Well renting is a Property Service is it not, so perhaps the PRTB could be merged or “streamlined” into the Auctioneers Regulatory Authority at some stage. Perhaps when Fine Gael and I presume Labour - going on current opinion polls - enter a coalition later this year that will happen.

Naming issues aside Auctioneers and QUANGO watchers can rest easy for some years, as the Authority will nothave any powers until it’s enabling act is passed and that has been on the long finger for some years already.

If and when the Bill does become an Act will existing Auctioneers be grandfathered in?

Streamlining Government

Published January 13th, 2009 in swansea, Apolitical, change, yes prime minister, white fish authority, quango, quango watch and yes minister. 1 Comment

In The World’s Fastest Indian (2005) Burt Munro (played by Anthony Hopkins) surpasses his moneyed professional rivals and streamlines an Indian ‘Scout’ motorcycle by adopting a K.I.S.S. attitude. Hopkins attitude was the result of old-man stubbornness combined with fiscal reality.

In Ireland today (2009) Fianna Fail are still in government, to continue to metaphor we might thus call them old men,  but they have yet to grasp the fiscal reality. In the Celtic Tiger era there was much spending, and suffice to say some bad decisions were made. I don’t know much about politics but I have just come across a document on the Fine Gael website, a document so impressive it could, by itself, convince one to vote for Fine Gael in the next election. A Gerry McGuire type document. It contains the most comprehensive publically available list of Irish QUANGOs to-date, and that fact alone makes it worth saving locally as a PDF. But its more then a reference text, it offers solutions, a roadmap for change.

Granted the details could be fleshed out, and any roadmap is merely a political statement of intentions but it is more then I have seen on the Fianna Fail website.

Fine Gael - Streamlining Government(March 2008)

The Private Security Authority

Published June 30th, 2006 in cash cow, quango watch, quango and uncategorized. 6 Comments

It is amazing how many Authorities the Irish Government is producing, each one is created by an Act, and regulates some sector, and charges a fee in course.
Most recently the Private Security Authority has been in the news, it was established by the The Private Security Services Act, 2004.

The website of the Authority sounds nice, and in principle it is easy to agree with its agenda

It is the aim of the Authority to use the statutory regulation and enforcement powers provided to it to introduce positive, fundamental change in the industry. Our purpose is to instil customer and public confidence in this multi-stranded, multi-faceted business with the introduction, control and management of a comprehensive, standard driven, licensing system for all individuals and companies involved in the industry and to do so in a manner that is sensitive to the needs of the market.

However, when one examines the real-life impacts the picture stops looking rosy. A party providing named security services is obliged to obtain a licence from the authority. There is a fee to be paid. Licences are divided into two categories

  • Contractors
  • Employees

A contractor pays an “Administration fee” of EUR 1,000 and a sectorial fee calculutated on their turnover and sector. Now remember the Authority is not some voluntary trade organisaiton, that one can ignore if it’s membership fees are too high, it is mandatory for Security providers to obtain licences.

There are some formailties necessary to get a licence also

  • Valid Tax Clearance Certificate
  • A Certificate of Incorporation (for companies) dated not earlier than 4 weeks before the date of the application
  • A Certificate of the Business Name where the trade or business name is not that of the beneficial owner of the business
  • Completed Criminality Checking Authorisation Form
  • Evidence of attainment of the required sector standard (I.S.999:2004 for Security Guarding, Door Supervisor companies &
    EN:50131:1997 for Installers of Intruder Alarms)

Wow? Lets look at the first one again “Valid Tax Clearance Certificate”, this has nothing to do with the Authorities aims as quoted earlier “…instil customer and public confidence in this multi-stranded, multi-faceted business with the introduction, control and management of a comprehensive, standard driven, licensing system for all individuals and companies involved in the industry and to do so in a manner that is sensitive to the needs of the market.” instead it is acting as a servant of the Revenue Commissioners, and incidentally recording peoples PPS numbers, and wow the Authority also provides a useful webform for snitchers, sounds like something from Communist Russia, and in conclusion remember that when a licence is required for something it can always be recinded, or refused if the issuing authority takes a dislike to the licenceee, how many “Private Investigators” will be refused a new licence if they snoop around something unpopular with the government of the day?
Now I’m not involved in the Security industry and I don’t mind about this Authority in particular my concern is over the increasing regulations in Irish life, lets use the term “over-regulation”, it seems that once a parliament exists it must keep making legislation!
Continue reading ‘The Private Security Authority’

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