George

Minister for Health

I was out to lunch recently and as the alcohol count went up, the temperature of the discussion increased and the willingness to defend absolutely untenable positions became crucial. The subject matter whipped around current news, visiting matters Trump on a couple of occasions (Is there an equivalent to Godwins Law that encompasses DT?) and for a short time settled on the Health Service. One of the requirements of this sort of discourse is that none of the participants is expert on the subject which gives a certain amount of latitude to the debate. At one point we were each asked, ‘If you were appointed Minister of Health, what would be your first action?” There were a number of responses to this that have been lost in the haze but it was a question that came back to me as I was listening to Simon Harris introducing Sláintecare. I wonder whether his first action on appointment was to wonder what he had done wrong in a prior existence to deserve the Department of Health posting. On the same day that the discussion took place there was more fall out from the Cervical Cancer debacle: more GP’s leaving the country; over a million waiting for hospital appointments; more people on trolleys and so on. The only thing that was consistent was the call for more and more money from all of the stakeholders in the Health industry.

Earlier this year there was the trolley crisis and I remember a lunchtime radio presenter promising to read out the number of patients on trolleys every day until the problem was solved. Perhaps I misunderstood her because I don’t hear her publicising the numbers any more. Today we have new problems that remind us that in simple economic terms we have insatiable wants and limited resources. When the lunchtime program was on the subject of the crisis in A&E we heard a number of theories as to how to deal with it. What I didn’t hear was any in depth analysis on patient through-put, broken down by type of incident. What I kept hearing was the number of patients on trolleys and even this figure was different from that published by the HSE. What I kept asking the radio was for some basic data giving the type of medical emergencies of those presenting to A&E. I heard two doctors interviewed saying that every patient attending had a legitimate reason for being there but we all know someone who has been told by their GP to attend A&E to avoid long delays for MRI scans, for example. It would be interesting to know how many trolley patients were discharged as soon as a Doctor could get to them or, how many just needed to sleep it off.

This is not my normal rant but a genuine doubt as to whether the Minister or the management of the HSE understand the drivers and demands of healthcare today. I understand that the Health Service cannot be run like a business but when we see a long term plan being published without costings it ceases to be a plan and becomes something aspirational and full of good intentions and we know what the road to Hell is paved with. At this point I should say that I have a great regard for those healthcare professionals working at the coal face but I get an impression of an organisation that is rudderless, lacking in energy, accident prone and moribund. I also get a sense of segmental interests fighting against each other for a slice of an ever increasing budget. I hope that I am wrong and that there are current, relevant and robust figures and costings on which a plan can be based and that there isn’t a form of internecine warfare responsible for a black hole into which more taxpayers funds are sucked.

To get back to the original question of what I would do if appointed Minister, I would look for current, relevant and robust data that gave me a good sense of where the organisation is and what the plans are. I am not talking about yet another report from one of the top accounting firms. I am talking about data properly targeted and obtained by multi discipline teams from within the Health Service. There are a number of benefits to this approach firstly, the poacher turned gamekeeper effect where all the old hiding places are known. Secondly, if the team dynamic is good then cross discipline and cross health centre contacts are made and best practise procedures are implemented. If management trust their own staff, implementation of ‘quick wins’ will continue to build trust between them. Of course this will need extra funds and the other front that has to be addressed is the taxpayers view that increased funds go into a money pit that benefits everyone but patients. The Minister and HSE have to have a dialogue with the taxpayer that not only looks for more funding but takes full responsibility for implementation, supports investments with value for money data and publishes follow up audits to ensure that targeted gains are achieved. In the UK the Minister for Prisons has promised to resign if, in a year, improvements are not made in 10 prisons taking part in a pilot scheme to reduce drug taking and violence. (Irish Times 21/08/18)

What about it Simon, prepared to ‘nail your colours to the mast’ and for a change make a meaningful promise to the Health service and its clients?

Reference: Irish Times, 21/08/18, Denis Staunton. World News

“Stick it to the Man” – Really?

There was a snippy news item in Carol Midgley’s Notebook today, headed ‘stick it to the man.’ (The Times, 27/08/18) In summary, the story is that some woman’s rights people had stuck ‘phallus shaped stickers’ on the Iron Men statues on Cosby Beach with the text, “woman don’t have penises.” The usual suspects reacted, the Mayor has vowed to track the perpetrators down; it was declared ‘anti trans’ (presumably by the pro trans people) and the police are investigating. Nothing very unusual there then. The piece ends by saying that we are at a unique point in history when the police are investigating this prank with it’s “woman don’t have penises” message.

I know that it is a throwaway piece but are we really at a ‘unique point in history’ with this rather childish prank? The probability is that the Mayor was caught off-guard for a comment and pulled out the stock, ‘I will track them down’ response. I will guarantee that the police have already consigned the whole thing to the square bin marked, ‘under investigation’ and the only official who might be exercised by these antics is probably the Litter Warden, who has to gather up all the evidence before he gets it in the neck from an outraged Mother on a day out at the beach with her children. ‘A unique point in history’ more like a normal day at the office.

Reference:The Times, 27/08/18, Carol Midgley, Comment

Edmund Burke versus the Right

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We all know the following quote from Edmund Burke and understand its meaning, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” It was running through my mind as I read an article written by Janice Turner. (The Times, 04/08/18) In it she discussed the current shift to the right in European and US politics and how the Liberal centrist community should approach this phenomenon. She describes the hatred and fury that drives the leaders of these groups that would not have been out of place in 1930’s Munich. There is also a recognition that the left has similar issues with Corbynites weirdly unable to shake off the antisemitism that seems to be embedded in some parts of Labour. The shocking Sunday Times research findings that 24% of UK respondents would vote for a far right anti immigration party gives cause for concern. Even though polls should be treated with some scepticism Questionaires any number in the 20%’s is significant. Turner argues that the ‘new wave’ rightists bypass the traditional media and peddle their ‘truths’ unchallenged on the net, claiming that they have been silenced by the traditional media for one conspirital reason or another.

Turner poses the question how do we react to this seismic change in society? One method is to ignore it and as she says of one of the ‘new rightist’ we could, “Cast him out to the nutty fringes no-platform and ignore him, keep his views off our airways cut the publicity oxygen pipe and hope he chokes.” (The Times, 04/08/18) I agree with Turner that it is wrong to simply ‘do nothing’ in the face of this threat to our way of life. However, what has worked in the past was to bring the extremists into the open where they have to confront issues in the traditional media, especially television. Where I disagree with the article is that it focuses exclusively on the Right and given the antics and sinister organisations representing them, it is easy to see why. However, I think that there is a wider problem that needs to be addressed. The more fundamental issue is to restore public trust in Politicians and Journalists. If we go back to the Sunday Times questionnaire the voters who said that they would vote far right were described as, ‘politically unserved.’ I would suggest that this class of citizens include the 52% white female vote for Trump; those who did not see the benefits accruing from the EU in the Brexit debate and the basis of the People before Profit and the rise of Sinn Féin in Ireland.

The combination of social media, the Bank failures and the shift toward identity politics has left a disconnect between the traditional media, centrist political parties and the people they are supposed to serve. The perception that a class of people at the top escaped the worst effects of the crash cannot be wholly rebutted. There is a further perception that some groups are given victim status at the expense of others and to question either is commit some form of blasphemy. All this, added to other unresolved social issues finds a home where these feelings of abandonment are enflamed. Turner challenges us, ” Do we sit in our self affirming twitter Pods, muting and blocking opinions counter to our own …. ” She thinks that Journalists should go on the offensive and not allow anti democratic forces an easy path. Is the current media fit for purpose? Turner sympathises with entities like the BBC who try to keep a balanced view but end up trying, “in a hand wringing, liberal way to address a significant strain of public opinion without causing offense.” This is part of the problem and Turner and others have to also look at a Liberal ideology that has done much to create the demons that she warns us against. I like her style, especially when she says, “The best weapon against unreason is for journalists to do their jobs.” Are Janice Turner and her like only going to see ‘unreason’ to her right or, is she prepared to look hard at what some would say are the new Puritans of the Centre and Left and take them on with equal fervour.

references: Edmund Burke Quotes, https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17142.Edmund_Burke The Times, 04/08/17, Janice Turner, We can’t Ignore Cult of Tommy Robinson

A Twist in the Tail

I try to avoid commenting on Brexit as it has been ‘done to death’ a number of times in the media and in political debate. I was rather a weak remainer who hoped that the EU might revert back to it’s EEC roots and that we might actually implement the rules of subsidiarity which were promised, post Lisbon. However, I wasn’t really surprised when the concept was quietly ditched and Brussels supplanted sound economic principle with expansionist doctrine. There are parts of the debate which still ‘raise hackles’ and put the television in grave danger. One of them is that it is all too complicated for the ordinary person to understand and therefore there should never have been a vote.

I take exception on a number of levels. Firstly, when I look at the assemblage of UK MP’s, Irish TD’s and UK and Irish MEP’s all I can say is that the bar isn’t set very high. Of course, in the main, they don’t understand it either but are advised by professionals who do. These are people who share an elite international western culture with their continental bureaucrats. I rather like the following interplay between Sir Humphrey and the Minister on how the elite really see the voters and Politicians, “James Hacker: This is a democracy, and the people don’t like it.
Sir Humphrey Appleby: The people are ignorant and misguided.
James Hacker: Humphrey, it was the people who elected me!
[Humphrey nods] ……” (Yes Minister, 1981) It seems that people can be trusted to vote on issues that are matters of real life and death as in the Abortion Referendum in Ireland. I also seem to recall that people voted on access to the EEC and therefore why are they not qualified to vote on whether to leave? In General Elections people vote for Governments not detailed policies and a large chunk of the UK did not feel the love from the eurocrats. Finally, would you buy a used car from these ‘experts’ who didn’t see the crash coming, even though they were employed to do so and scurried for cover whilst others had to pay the bill.

At this point the PC is in danger and I will return to the article that started this train of thought. Clare Foges wrote an article headlined, ‘EU was always going to Punish UK’ (The Times,7/08/18) making the point that the EU was more concerned with holding the Union together than doing a deal with the UK. I think that there are no surprises there but her conclusion is interesting and worth quoting, “Britain was always going to scrape a deal that would leave us worse off than before, or no deal that will take us God knows where. The writing was always on the wall. That’s why Brexit was always a terrible idea.” One of those foolish Brexiteers might say that with friends like the EU, better out now and take the consequences than to continue until it is too late. Not necessarily my opinion but not as clear cut as Clare Fogas would have us believe.

References: The Times,7/08/18, Claire Foges, EU was always going to Punish UK for Brexit, Yes Minister, BBC, 1981, Anthony Jay and Jonathon Lynn

Finian McGrath and the Doctor

I was listening to George Hook this morning (Saturday Sit-in,04/08/18) and thinking that he sort of fits into the ‘disgruntled corner’ in that at least he tries to ask the questions that we want asked. The problem is that he is easily outmanoeuvred by the two woman regulars in the opening section of the program and Michael Graham at the end. In fact, he spends so much time winding up to a question that he never manages to land a punch and you could say that everyone in the middle section manages to avoid any damage as well. Still, amongst the ranks of presenters he, at least, has some concept of what the man and woman in the street would like answered.

My attention was caught by the interview with Finian McGrath who had made representations to the Minister of Justice and more recently the Taoiseach, on behalf of Dr. Bassam Naser who had been jailed for not paying tax. His position seems to be that he has taken off his Minister of State hat and is acting as an ordinary TD on a constituency matter. I am not sure how he can switch roles and still retain Ministerial access to Charlie and Leo but that is something that the coalition has to work out. In summary, he accepts that Naser was guilty of the offence and should have been punished. His argument is that the sentence of sixteen months imprisonment was too severe and that he should be released on humanitarian grounds and the sentence be commuted to some sort of community service. He further stated that Naser was ‘very remorseful’ and prepared to make restitution. (The Irish Times, 25/07/18) It seems that 200 of Finian’s constituents support his call for a review but this seems to contrast with the Trial Judges view of the good Doctor when he said, ‘his offenses were serious and that Naser had “failed abysmally” and was “morally reprehensible’.” (The Irish Times, 25/07/18)

At this point we all appear to have accepted that this wasn’t a misunderstanding between Naser and his accountant and we are left with the question of the severity of the sentence. A couple of things did come out of the interview, one was that Naser is serving his sentence in an Open Prison and the other is that with good behaviour up to a third of the sentence will be commuted. Finian made a valid point that there are others who have committed more serious crimes who have had community service sentences and there is an issue of sentencing consistency between judges. I would argue that, if this was the case, that the more serious criminal should also be incarcerated, all other things being equal. The issue that incarceration is expensive and doesn’t reform criminals is a different debate and applies to a large number of miscreants who might also claim special representation on this basis.

The question that George put was that since the banking crisis the public have sought a much more serious view of ‘white collar’ crime but as soon as it is applied there are all sorts of calls for special treatment. This is not a victimless crime, and the remorse shown and the appeal on the basis of family hardship is the same as any criminal who has been caught. In other words, Naser didn’t think of the consequences when he was committing the crime but we are supposed to take them into consideration now that he is behind bars. (Are they behind bars in an Open Prison?)

I am sure these considerations were put to the Judge at the sentencing hearing and I assume that there are no legal grounds for appeal and am curious as to why so much publicity for this case. I would think that Leo and Charlie could foresee the public reaction to any interference in a tax case and have learnt to dodge the more obvious pitfalls. Political considerations aside it is always problematic when a Government Minister challenges the Courts and I don’t see the necessity to do so in this case.

references : Saturday Sit-in, George Hook, 04/08/18, Newstalk The Irish Times, Fiach Kelly, 25/07/18, https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/minister-defends-lobbying-for-release-of-doctor-jailed-for-not-paying-tax-1.3575442

Questionaires

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I had cause to contact IT support by chat line recently. This is the second time I have had to chat to them with separate problems and I feel stupid and clumsy in an environment that I do not understand. They mention a couple of fix’s and I respond with a question that means I haven’t got a clue. In fact, I apologise for my ignorance and place myself in the position of a supplicant rather than a customer who has a problem and wants it fixed. I can almost hear the sigh from the ‘consultant’ who has to change down a gear to accommodate the simpleton who shouldn’t really have been allowed to buy the product in the first place. I hasten to add that they were very polite and I acknowledged this on the questionnaire that popped up as I exited the chat line. I gave them full marks for their knowledge and courtesy but the question that was missing was, ‘did they resolve the problem?’

I am always ready to give an opinion, as you can tell from this site and it is also reflected in the fact that I have signed up to answer questionnaires with a leading market survey company. Occasionally, they are interesting and relate to social or, political issue but they are mainly concerned with marketing spend but are framed in such a way that they dodge the hard question. For example, there are lots of questions asking you to rate one supermarket against another but you have no experience of three out of the five alternatives but there is no option to state this. ‘ Rate the shopping experience with X. Is it A) better than the others; B) a great experience; C) A shop for my type of people; D) I wish I could move in and live there.’ Well no, I go there because my car can drive there by itself and get parking. The pricing is competitive and I can be in and out in an hour. Where is the button for that?

I hope that great marketing strategies are not made on the basis of my replies and investments made or, people laid off as a result. In most cases the marketing surveys are made by marketers’ to justify advertising spend and do not ask key questions especially for everyday products. I am sure that we are all influenced by advertising, although at this stage I have built up a pretty effective filter which means I always fail in matching the advert with the product bit of the questionnaire. The survey company that sends me questionnaires has a very good reputation and is often quoted as the source of statistics in national debates but by contributing to some of the surveys it has made me question the methodology used and conclusions drawn from some of the data.

It’s a Flat World

I like this quote and I think that it should be born in mind every time someone tells you , ” 97% of scientists agree on this”.

“Let’s be clear: the work of science has nothing whatever to do with consensus. Consensus is the business of politics. Science, on the contrary, requires only one investigator who happens to be right, which means that he or she has results that are verifiable by reference to the real world. In science, consensus is irrelevant. What is relevant is reproducible results. The greatest scientists in history are great precisely because they broke with the consensus. “(Michael Crichton)

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The Book of Dislikes

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I was asked for my pet hate recently and came up with so many minor irritations of modern living that I couldn’t make a choice. The point about pet hates is that they must impact personally and cannot be the really big things like Trump, Leo and Brexit over which we have no control. Also, I am pretty sure that I cannot use the word ‘hate’ and have toned it down to ‘dislikes’ in the title. Please don’t judge me on the basis of this list as I am really a nice person.

Talking during a performance at the cinema/theatre/concert hall etc. Why? What is so important that it can’t wait until the interval? A major indication of someone who has no respect for others. Suggestions as to how we stop this? (Employing a sniper is not a solution!)
Parking on the line in a multi-storey car park thus taking up two spaces.
The word ’emotional’ in all it’s forms used in sports commentary. “Tell me, how do you feel emotionally after training for four years for this race and coming fourth?”. A gold medal to the first athlete who summons up their last reserves and decks the interviewer.
Trolleys abandoned in the middle of supermarket aisles whilst the owner drifts around the shop in their own world.
Loud music played on the train/back garden/park or, any other open spaces by an individua. Same comment as point 1.
Televised pranks played on unsuspecting members of the public. Is it really that funny to humiliate someone going about their business? Would it count as self defense to promote the solution in item 3 (Gold medal in the post. No questions asked)
Save us from amateur entertainers, especially singers. There are very few people who can sing in tune unaccompanied but very many who thing that they can.
Aggressive drunks. They are not victims. The victims are all those people who have to deal with them or clear up after them. It is time we treated this seriously and really forced them to face the consequences of their lack of control.
People who drop litter. For normal people, picking up their litter was something that was drummed into them as soon as they could walk. It is so engrained that I am not sure that I could drop a wrapper in the street even at gunpoint. I just don’t understand and don’t get me started on ‘fly tippers!’.

Main Parties caught out by Sinn Féin

It was supposed to be ‘business as usual’ when it came to the Presidential election. Michael D. would keep us guessing for as long as possible and then declare his intention to go for a second term, just in time to make it difficult for anyone else to get the qualifying TDs or Counsel votes. The centre parties of Labour, FG and FF have no appetite for a troubling election and so have reverted back to the old system of political jobbery that existed before the two Marys. It doesn’t really matter does it? We have had two referendums in the near past and two more coming up (women and blasphemy in case you had forgotten) local and Europeans next year with the ever threatened General Election if Leo and Michael can’t agree. As noted by Eamon Delaney in his article(The Times, 20/07/18), surely that’s enough democracy for anyone. It probably would have gone to plan with Michael D. enjoying general support or at the very least a level of indifference but for Mary Lou’s intervention.

The new leader of Sinn Féin saw an opportunity and has cleverly won a tactical victory against the old centrist parties by declaring that her party will field a candidate for the Presidential election. By doing this she has wrong footed her opponents and shown them up to be a comfortable cabal content with the old anti democratic system of promoting an agreed candidate without bothering the electorate. Mary Lou has demonstrated that there is clear water between the old discredited parties and the new invigorated SF and I would be astonished if the SF candidate wasn’t a young woman. This would give her gender and youth attraction and establish SF as a modern party of the future. I disagree slightly with Eamon Delaney’s conclusion that their candidate would not break too free, “… from the moorings of that particular party.” (The Times, 20/07/18) A second option to promoting the usual party line is to offer the electorate someone who a broad church can support. This takes the wind out of the sails of the opposing parties and reassures the general public that SF has left the guns behind and is a respectable party that can be trusted to enter a future coalition. Have the parties of the centre been caught knapping on this one?

reference: The Times, 20/07/18, Eamon Delaney, Comment

Update 28/07/18

According to The Times Sinn Féin has set out its stall for the forthcoming Presidential election by describing its ideal candidate as a woman who will challenge the ‘patriarchy’ that still governs Irish society. The selection committee chairman goes on to mention women. young people, gender pay and the two recent referendums. You read it here Leo and Michael better start looking over your shoulder, you are about to be overtaken.

The Times, 28/07/18, Ellen Coyne,

“Airhead”

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was branded an “airhead” and an “EU Toady” on the front page of the UK tabloid the Sun on Friday morning.
The insults are a response to Mr Varadkar’s comments about the impact of a potential “no-deal” Brexit on air travel next year.
“The situation at the moment is that the United Kingdom is part of the single European sky, and if they leave the EU they are not, and that does mean that if there was a no-deal, hard Brexit next March the planes would not fly and Britain would be an island in many ways and that is something that they need to think about,” the Taoiseach said in Kerry two days ago. (Irish Times, 20/07/18)

I have copied the full paragraph from the IT so that quotes are kept in context and I would say that I wouldn’t normally comment on the editorial of the Sun but for the reaction it seems to have provoked in Dublin. Perhaps the Sun has gained some gravitas since it’s interview with Trump although he claims it was all or, part, “fake news”. I think that the content of the front page article is admirably set off by a picture of Gwyneth Paltrow with the byline, ‘Gwns and Needles’ which the IT has thoughtfully included in it’s own article.

Why is it worth comment? Only because, despite all protestations, all explanations concerning context, to an outsider it does sound like a threat. Secondly, the tone of the briefing is reminiscent of similar threats emanating from Brussels. I will give the Taoiseach the benefit of the doubt because he must know that airspace, like borders, work in a number of ways and I would suggest that Ireland would suffer more in a playground ‘tit for tat’ argument than Britain. The basic premise is somewhat false. Non EU airlines operate in European airspace and European airlines, such as Aer Lingus, operate within British airspace. The issue eventually will be decided by a trade off between global airline groups based on market principles not ideology and it is the Taoiseach’s job to ground the current discussions in common sense and to ensure that pragmatism succeeds over polemics to the benefit of everyone.

Reference – Irish Times, 20/07/18, Conor Gallagher,https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/varadkar-called-airhead-by-sun-newspaper-over-flights-remark-1.