THE CIVIL SERVICE

[THE MIGHTY QUINN]

Civil Servants, the country's full of them, North and South. These are the people who, since time began, have been keeping the wheels of Government turning and apart from the odd faux pas when a couple of computer discs containing the personal details of 25 million people might accidentally get lost or a planning official is discovered to be taking backhanders from developers in turn for granting planning permissions in the Dublin green belt, these people are doing a brilliant job.

Gone are the old stereotypical images of Civil Servants spending all day drinking tea, reading newspapers and doing crossword puzzles,  today's Civil Servant is fully IT literate and their offices reverberate to the sound of clicking computer mice as they go about their daily routine of work, work and more work.

But is everything as it seems? There are those who suggest that Civil Servants have simply swapped the tea break for the smoking break, the newspaper for the internet bookies and the crossword puzzle for the odd hand or two of Solitaire.  So what do you think? Is this a fair assessment or is this way off the mark? We want to hear your views.

Perhaps you're a highly successful property developer who owes your fortune to the flexibility of Civil Servants to amend development plans to accommodate your needs or maybe you're unemployed and once had to miss an opening time in your local because the old Giro didn't arrive in time? We want to hear your views as we ask the question...Is the Civil Service shite??

[The Gs Man]

Nope, it aint shite.  Im on a career break from it (up to 5 years), and can go back anytime.  Can't beat that with a big stick!

[SeanSouth]

Civil Servants, the country's full of them, North and South. These are the people who, since time began, have been keeping the wheels of Government turning and apart from the odd faux pas when a couple of computer discs containing the personal details of 25 million people might accidentally get lost or a planning official is discovered to be taking backhanders from developers in turn for granting planning permissions in the Dublin green belt, these people are doing a brilliant job.

Gone are the old stereotypical images of Civil Servants spending all day drinking tea, reading newspapers and doing crossword puzzles,  today's Civil Servant is fully IT literate and their offices reverberate to the sound of clicking computer mice as they go about their daily routine of work, work and more work.

But is everything as it seems? There are those who suggest that Civil Servants have simply swapped the tea break for the smoking break, the newspaper for the internet bookies and the crossword puzzle for the odd hand or two of Solitaire.  So what do you think? Is this a fair assessment or is this way off the mark? We want to hear your views.

Perhaps you're a highly successful property developer who owes your fortune to the flexibility of Civil Servants to amend development plans to accommodate your needs or maybe you're unemployed and once had to miss an opening time in your local because the old Giro didn't arrive in time? We want to hear your views as we ask the question...Is the Civil Service shite??

Com eon Mighty Quinn, if your going to do a piece, do some research. Surf Control sorts out the internet bookies, you cant access it.

[Square Ball]

SS, sorry sadly that is not completly true, there are still some sites that can be accessed. Some people discovered that you can log onto Proxy sites and access everything, and also some have not been clasified correctly so can be accessed at anytime.

[SeanSouth]

SS, sorry sadly that is not completly true, there are still some sites that can be accessed. Some people discovered that you can log onto Proxy sites and access everything, and also some have not been clasified correctly so can be accessed at anytime.

SquareBall anytime i have tried bookies sites surf control nips them in the bud.

[deiseach]

The lean, mean, fighting machines in the private sector would never tolerate personal Internet usage, oh no.

[Square Ball]

I know it works SS, some you cant get into, others you can, as I say they are not classified correctly.

There is a strict internet usage code that all staff have to sign prior to them being granted access, not all staff adhere to it, and some have Been sacked for failing to stick to it. You are only supposed to use it during recognised breaks, before signing in and after signing out, but there are people who abuse this who will be caught and fined, and guess what, the sooner the better.

[cville]

Look, I have a confession to make....I have worked in a branch of the Civil Service for some years. However, thankfully I can think for myself - I hope. The civil service is full of people with low IQs, petty arseholes who can make mountains out of molehills. The fact is that there are whole departments set up to address 'costs' and the last thing they will look at is the fu**ing number of staff that are sitting scratching their arses! It is like th elephant in the kitchen that nobody is allowed to mention - the cost of underemploying needless staff. Also, the fact is that - recession or no recession! these people are under no threat (and dare I say that perks and overtime are the same)... put these people into a private firm and it would be "adios amigo"...... The fact is that the NI economy is built on this on these people.. waste of space!!! Money for old rope... T

[Broken_Cross]

I searched Google for 'How to kill a Civil Servant' then clicked I'm Feeling Lucky button..

The page I got back was: http://14173.blogspot.com/ which headlines with the following:

Ramblings of a Civil Servant
This little blight on the internet is meant to catalog my general meanderings and brain farts. I hope you're not reading this. You could be doing much more important stuff, like breathing.

I think this encapsualtes their ethos and therefore means they are all shite.

[THE MIGHTY QUINN]

As this threadl is getting way too serious I'm now closing the poll with a majority voting that the Civil Service is ok. If you assume that those intending to vote after their tea break are also Civil Servants and will most likely vote in favour as well it's a resounding vote for the Civil Service all round.  Surprised how seriously people took it all. I just set it up, in the same way as I set up the other polls, as a bit of craic more in the hope that members would see the humour in the preamble.

BTW I'm a Civil Servant myself and work very hard as do the vast majority of my colleagues. I'm now off to bed so as I can get a good night's sleep to prepare me for the full rigours of serving the public tomorrow.

[under the bar]

Whilst the Civil Service provides a role of processing all the country's needs for government related work, it largely exists to provide work for people who would be virtually unemployable in the private sector.    I'm not labelling them all as unemployable however there's a significant majority number who on the basis of their productivity alone would not earn enough to exist in the private sector.

[illdecide]

I worked for the DRD Roads Service for 18 months in Hydebank and as much as i really enjoyed it financially i had to leave for the private sector as it payed up to 10k more and with a big mortgage to pay i had no choice. But i must comment on the guys who i worked with, they were good lads and worked reasonably well. The problem with the civil Service is on the admin side of things and not technical, the admin people are the ones on the long term sick(with stress ) and are lazy and bone idle.

[Gnevin]

Turn off the caps please!

[SeanSouth]

I worked for the DRD Roads Service for 18 months in Hydebank and as much as i really enjoyed it finanically i had to leave for the private sector as it payed up to 10k more and with a big mortage to pay i had no choice. But i must comment on the guys who i worked with, they were good lads and worked reasonably well. The problem with the civil Service is on the admin side of things and not technical, the admin people are the ones on the long term sick(with stress ) and are lazy and bone iddle.

Perhaps you should have asked for a bit of "Admin help" before posting.......

[illdecide]

I worked for the DRD Roads Service for 18 months in Hydebank and as much as i really enjoyed it finanically i had to leave for the private sector as it payed up to 10k more and with a big mortage to pay i had no choice. But i must comment on the guys who i worked with, they were good lads and worked reasonably well. The problem with the civil Service is on the admin side of things and not technical, the admin people are the ones on the long term sick(with stress ) and are lazy and bone iddle.

Perhaps you should have asked for a bit of "Admin help" before posting.......

there is always one "c**k nose". When your typing like f**k so your boss does not catch you on the board your certainly not worried about the odd spelling mistake. But just for you SS i'll try harder on my spelling in the future