SHOULD CRIMINALS be forced to wear green jumpsuits and do community service instead of jail time? And should teachers be obliged to pay for parking on school grounds?
A call by Minister for Public Expenditure Brendan Howlin for submissions from the public on how the State could save money has yielded over 1,000 responses – along with a few unorthodox ideas.
As well as the public, many nurses, gardaí and teachers sent in ideas on how to tackle mismanagement and inefficiency across the public sector.
One garda commented that 20 per cent of the force did little or nothing and should not receive pay increments. Instead, they should be paid on the basis of performance.
Another suggested members of the force on motorbikes could be issued with scooter-type motorbikes in urban areas, similar to those used in the Spanish police force.
“They give the appearance of a larger motorbike when with all necessary police equipment, but have quite low maintenance costs,” the garda said.
One contributor suggested axing lucrative additional pay for gardaí, such as a Gaeltacht allowances, rent allowance, and boot and footwear allowances.
“There is no justification in paying a 7.5 per cent allowance to Gaeltacht-based gardaí. Do Polish/Chinese/German gardaí get paid extra? I don’t think so.”
Teachers and the education sector were also the subject of a large volume of submissions.
One contributor said the estimated 57,000 teachers at primary and secondary level should be charged for parking on school grounds.
“If each of them paid €60 a month over nine months, it would result in an income of just under €3.5 million per month,” the writer suggested.
The same person pointed out that they paid €60 a month for parking because they lived 20 miles from work and had no public transport.
Another said teachers should not be paid extra for correcting exam papers during the summer.
“It should be part of their working year. They are already overpaid and their holidays are far too long.”
In the field of security, one member of the public pointed out that the prison system was a very expensive solution for lesser crimes.
“Instead of locking up individuals for petty crime such as non-payment of TV licences, dress them in a green jumpsuit and give them hours of community service such as assisting in old people’s homes, sweeping streets, etc.”
The names of those who submitted cost-saving ideas have been blacked out by the Department of Public Expenditure to protect their identities.
A spokeswoman for Mr Howlin said all suggestions had been considered by relevant departments as part of its comprehensive spending review.
