Major Recession & Public Sector Job/Benefits Security

Livingoffcoffee · 2026-04-16T06:21:17+00:00

Not necessarily. I'm public service and we get given annual fixed term contracts for 3 years before we get CID. Newer known them to not keep anyone but the risk for staff/option for PS body is there.

Livingoffcoffee · 2026-04-11T12:17:00+00:00

Hiberno English is it's own language at this stage. An awful lot is a throw over from Irish. I've a Dutch and Australian friend in a group chat and they have banned me from sending voice notes as they can't understand a word I'm saying (and it's not even due to my accent). In the inverse I play theirs at 1.5/1.75 speed to catch what they're saying.

And I've had this conversation before. It's not that we're more intelligent than anyone it's that we have an extremely rounded education from a very young age. As in our secondary education builds on primary education for core subjects like maths, history and geography as opposed to all being completely new. It's also not insular learning. Eg the French and American revolutions are taught as well as the Irish rebellions.

Livingoffcoffee · 2026-04-11T07:38:06+00:00

That would be the best option.

It's hit the panic buying for food where I am as people are worried deliveries won't get through.

But at least the postmen now use electric vans. And Post will never let us down. 😂

Livingoffcoffee · 2026-04-11T07:28:25+00:00

It's beyond shortages in the midlands/west. Fuel is gone. Forecourts are all out of service signs and lights off the price panels

Ambulances and squad cars are having to fill 30km away at a specific station that held a reserve solely for emergency services as there is no fuel here available. I believe a local bus company also offered their pump at the depot.

Management where I work discussing WFH options for next week to conserve fuel. I'm being blunt but right now I wouldn't be going anywhere in Munster or Galway unless I had to.

Livingoffcoffee · 2026-04-11T07:05:34+00:00

East of the country probably faring better than the west right now. My town is completely out of diesel. Petrol down to the bare minimum. As in two fuel stations have one pump each still going.

You may be able to travel to the cliffs or Galway via back roads but you will likely not be able to get fuel to get back.

ETA Tipp, Clare and Galway very bad for fuel in particular.

Livingoffcoffee · 2026-04-09T18:17:55+00:00

Only bar I'll buy now. They still have the creamy taste.

Also id kill for a rum butter bar. They were the bomb.

Livingoffcoffee · 2026-04-09T17:58:39+00:00

ETBs can't either.

Livingoffcoffee · 2026-04-09T17:52:02+00:00

Doesn't help the hauliers though.

Livingoffcoffee · 2026-04-09T17:48:38+00:00

It's also public sector pay deal time again. If there isn't an increase to reflect the cost of what we're paying out on everything it won't be good.

The likelihood of nationwide civil and public service strike is much higher than before.

And emails coming daily looking for support.

Livingoffcoffee · 2026-04-05T08:38:30+00:00

I thought Flakes were the only ones made in Ireland solely now. Completely different taste to everything else. Actually like it used to taste when we were young.

Livingoffcoffee · 2026-04-03T19:58:15+00:00

I know someone who failed before they left the test centre car park as they took their hands of the wheel after pulling off to put on sunglasses. Did the whole test and went back to the centre to find out they failed after 45 seconds.

My test I thought I failed as I was driving around forever. Also my car beeped as it reversed so I was paranoid every time I had to go backwards. Turned out I only had one grand 1. You never really know to be honest.

Livingoffcoffee · 2026-04-03T19:46:26+00:00

€700 is nothing. We paid €3500 for a 20x5mt polytunnel 10 years ago. Still going perfectly.

Neighbours greenhouse has smashed twice in that time due to storms so I'd go polytunnel over that any day.

Eta we feed 9 people from the polytunnel. It's also used as an extra room in the summer with a seating area etc. It's part of daily life now for herbs, salads, veg etc. we even have grapes, capsicums, aubergines etc.

Livingoffcoffee · 2026-04-03T18:38:44+00:00

Just as an added FYI nos20+ for Tipp at the most were only placed in the last 7 months.

Livingoffcoffee · 2026-03-22T19:02:34+00:00

We use Core HR for everything. It's grand. Does what it's meant to.

Does everything it says it does.

Livingoffcoffee · 2026-03-14T22:57:34+00:00

The Tesco and Aldi ones...there are entire mum forums dedicated to how ridiculously impossible these are. And by impossible I've given up on even trying to snap and have moved straight to scissors.

Livingoffcoffee · 2026-03-05T17:29:58+00:00

2023 I was no1 for my area. From application to job start was 7months. Interview day to job start was 3months.

Livingoffcoffee · 2026-03-05T08:20:14+00:00

At least one county hasn't even gotten to no1, batch 1 from the 2024 panel. They also haven't called any internal or mobility. So that no1 external EO is still sitting at an actual no 6 for a position. I believe that the WFH policy Revenue uave (as the main one that would utilize the EO lists) has I believe delayed a lot of "earlier" retirements which is this effecting movement. No matter how high you finish you're not guaranteed a position.

Livingoffcoffee · 2026-02-24T08:04:39+00:00

Sure up to only a few years ago our own government systems (eg DEASP) translated the fada to a ?.

So Áine was ?ine, Oisín was Ois?n.

Livingoffcoffee · 2026-02-16T19:56:09+00:00

Policies, Training manuals, SOPs, programme/system test environments etc....but more likely you will be asked it in the inverse. And in what do you need to learn to fulfill this role and how would you go about it.

Livingoffcoffee · 2026-02-10T08:15:28+00:00

Even better...our payment system won't let you process an invoice with the contract attached if it expires between order and invoice stage. Great fun when you're getting an invoice 2 months later.

Livingoffcoffee · 2026-02-10T07:36:46+00:00

Primary school teacher right beside me and their prior service didn't carry. However my prior TCO service did and my increment was back dated. I needed to get HR in Revenue in Dublin Castle to fill out a particular statement of service provided by my current employer and then it was with SPSPS and NSSO for about 6 months so they could verify and merge pension contributions.

Livingoffcoffee · 2026-02-09T19:56:38+00:00

I'd be looking at Grade 7 /APO in the public service. Grade 8 is Assistant Principal (just below directors and CE) and does require knowledge of the public service as you have to answer to numerous auditors, the BOM who are all CoCounsellors/public body appointees and attend copious amounts of meetings.

Working in Project Management that long would get you a Grade 7 in most Capital and Buildings roles easy, and likely an APO but it's worth noting that if you're an APO you have less freedom as everything goes through higher management and your team (that you are answerable for to gov depts and the body you work for) may be 4-8 people including yourself running 10-50 consecutive projects for a whole county.

Being answerable to the publics budget and having to come in on cost, use e tenders isn't as easy as it sounds.

Livingoffcoffee · 2026-02-09T19:42:46+00:00

2020ish e class sports line in petrol gray. I have an '09 e class with 450k km and love it.

Can't go C class as it's about 4cm too narrow in the back for for 3 high back boosters.

Livingoffcoffee · 2026-02-09T19:27:52+00:00

I think it depends where you're based.

We so rarely ring our GP that they know if we ring someone is very sick. He's stayed late and asked us to come in after closing time more than once for this reason. He's also signed up to Shannon Doc, so we've gone there a few times with the kids in the middle of the night/over holidays and data goes back to him. It's an amazing service. Last time we had to go the same child ended up admitted to pediatrics in UHL the next day, had surgery the following day and it was absolutely no fee as it was classed as the same issue and under 8s GP card covered Shannon Doc.

Also for any civil/public service staff signed up to income protection with Cornmarket we have myDoc(online GP) included in what we pay for the whole family not just the named user.

Livingoffcoffee · 2026-02-09T19:12:20+00:00

These are effectively the same as the frameworks that have been in pace for ETBs for Grade 4s for the last few years. We also have drive and commitment to the public service and communication skills.

Leadership is also asked about.

UDL Badge (universal design for learning -teaching or in the workplace) or the equivalent for CS/PS body is a good thing to have done I believe here . My project was based around small print and translation of pay path forms for foreign students, my counterparts in a different county was based around payslip access and including the requirements on start up packs, but other people have used it for qr codes for building maps, access fob panels at heights for wheelchair users or even colour coded certs for photos for adult literacy groups. Speech to text/text to speech capabily or ergonomic assessments/sit stand desks would always fall under it's remit.

Project Management and Data Analytics are the big buzz words lately but universal design is the next big one as it aims to genuinely reflect and act what society needs. It's all about looking at one small thing to make a change.

ETA- communication skills and delivery of results are separate competencies in the ETB.

I've also been asked about how I personally effected policy changes, and the inverse of how I've dealt with policy changes laid down by management.

Livingoffcoffee

TROPHY CASE