The WTF thread

[Hornet]

I take you 2 twins with ADD and raise you 75 year old Las Vegas crooner

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17222934

As with anything that begins with 'Euro', now a parody of something that, in it's early days, was worth being involved in.

[Scott]

MAx & Tom Evans NSFWhttp://touch.dailymotion.com/video/xanj ... evans_sexy

[Amz]

Eh ...

[kermischocolate]

MAx & Tom Evans NSFWhttp://touch.dailymotion.com/video/xanj ... evans_sexy

ah yes, the good old dieux du stade calendar. shame with his rugby retiral Thom won't likely be in another one.

[sheepshagger]

Bus drivers who don't crash get €300,000

BUS ÉIREANN spends about €300,000 a year on awards to drivers who manage not to crash their buses for a minimum of 200 days.

The company gives a Safe Driving Award to every driver who is “accident free” for each year in which they have been on the road for at least 200 days.

Drivers who meet the criteria receive vouchers worth €250. The successful drivers in each of five regions – east, south, southwest, west and northwest – also go through to a regional draw for a prize of €1,500.

A spokesman for the company said it was a “remarkable achievement” for drivers to be accident free.

“Our drivers can each travel more than a million kilometres over a year and it is a remarkable achievement to be accident free given the distances they drive in often difficult conditions.”

There was also a cost saving benefit to the awards, he said, as fewer collisions meant less money spent on fixing vehicles.

“The Safe Driving Awards are a means to congratulate drivers for their skill and expertise in being accident free. The awards also help contribute to reducing our costs by cutting down on vehicle maintenance and repair.”

It has been a long-standing practice to reward drivers who have been accident free over significant periods of time, the spokesman said. The company previously gave cash bonuses to drivers but moved to a voucher system in 2009.

The company is seeking tenders for the supply of gift cards for the awards scheme. The value of the awards is outlined in the tender documents as being about €300,000 a year. About 1,600 drivers work for Bus Éireann, and the figures indicate fewer than 1,200 would qualify for an award in any year.

In addition to vouchers, drivers get “presentational awards” when they reach certain accident-free milestones. After five years they receive a pin, at 10 years they get a vase, at 15 years it is a plate, at 20 years they are given another vase, after 25 years they receive a watch, at 30 years they get a clock, and drivers who make it to 35 years are rewarded with a lamp.

Certificates of achievement are also presented to these drivers.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ire ... 95450.html

[Peg Leg]

Bus drivers who don't crash get €300,000

Certificates of achievement are also presented to these drivers.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ire ... 95450.html

Wow, imagine getting a certificate of achievement every year for fulfilling the minimum requirement!! Keep reaching for the stars lads!!

[Slipper1]

Bus drivers who don't crash get €300,000


A spokesman for the company said it was a “remarkable achievement” for drivers to be accident free.

“Our drivers can each travel more than a million kilometres over a year and it is a remarkable achievement to be accident free given the distances they drive in often difficult conditions.”

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ire ... 95450.html

Surely that cant be correct. even if they drive 300 days a year at 120kmph thats 27.5hrs a day with no breaks

They certainly are difficult conditions if they are being made drive over the speed limit to reach a million km's a year.

[Grumpy Old Man]

Bus drivers who don't crash get €300,000

BUS ÉIREANN spends about €300,000 a year on awards to drivers who manage not to crash their buses for a minimum of 200 days.

The company gives a Safe Driving Award to every driver who is “accident free” for each year in which they have been on the road for at least 200 days.

Drivers who meet the criteria receive vouchers worth €250. The successful drivers in each of five regions – east, south, southwest, west and northwest – also go through to a regional draw for a prize of €1,500.

A spokesman for the company said it was a “remarkable achievement” for drivers to be accident free.

“Our drivers can each travel more than a million kilometres over a year and it is a remarkable achievement to be accident free given the distances they drive in often difficult conditions.”

There was also a cost saving benefit to the awards, he said, as fewer collisions meant less money spent on fixing vehicles.

“The Safe Driving Awards are a means to congratulate drivers for their skill and expertise in being accident free. The awards also help contribute to reducing our costs by cutting down on vehicle maintenance and repair.”

It has been a long-standing practice to reward drivers who have been accident free over significant periods of time, the spokesman said. The company previously gave cash bonuses to drivers but moved to a voucher system in 2009.

The company is seeking tenders for the supply of gift cards for the awards scheme. The value of the awards is outlined in the tender documents as being about €300,000 a year. About 1,600 drivers work for Bus Éireann, and the figures indicate fewer than 1,200 would qualify for an award in any year.

In addition to vouchers, drivers get “presentational awards” when they reach certain accident-free milestones. After five years they receive a pin, at 10 years they get a vase, at 15 years it is a plate, at 20 years they are given another vase, after 25 years they receive a watch, at 30 years they get a clock, and drivers who make it to 35 years are rewarded with a lamp.

Certificates of achievement are also presented to these drivers.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ire ... 95450.html

The IT is getting more like the Indo every day. The headline implies one thing, the article suggests another. And no-one checks the facts (as slipper1 has so eloquently demonstrated).

What a focking non-story!

[ronk]

Bus drivers who don't crash get €300,000


A spokesman for the company said it was a “remarkable achievement” for drivers to be accident free.

“Our drivers can each travel more than a million kilometres over a year and it is a remarkable achievement to be accident free given the distances they drive in often difficult conditions.”

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ire ... 95450.html

Surely that cant be correct. even if they drive 300 days a year at 120kmph thats 27.5hrs a day with no breaks

They certainly are difficult conditions if they are being made drive over the speed limit to reach a million km's a year.

I'm not surprised that they're thick when it comes to maths, I have a Leap Card.

[TerenureJim]

Rory Best only being just 29, honestly thought he was much older.

[sheepshagger]

SICK LEAVE across the public service is costing over €550 million a year, according to new official estimates given to the Oireachtas Committee of Public Accounts.

A report sent by the secretary general at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Robert Watt, to the committee says €488 million was paid out in respect of certified sick leave and a further €63 million on uncertified sick leave.

At present, employees in the public service can avail of up to seven days’ uncertified sick leave in a 12-month period. Staff can receive full pay for certified sickness absence for up to six months in one year, and half-pay thereafter, subject to a maximum of 12 months’ paid sick leave in any period of four years.

However, the Government has signalled it wants major reforms to paid sick leave arrangements

One public service union, the PSEU, which represents middle grade civil servants, told members in a note last month that while no formal reform proposals had been put forward, “it is worth noting that unions have been advised that the State as an employer is not in a position to sustain the cost of the current arrangements”.

It warned members that “significant changes are likely to be sought”.

Changing existing sick-leave arrangements would involve one of the most significant reforms in conditions for serving public service staff in years. It is expected to involve negotiations with unions at the Labour Relations Commission similar to the process that resulted in the negotiation of revised pension arrangements for new staff last year.

Some sources said there was an expectation the Government’s opening position could involve cutting the period for which full salary is paid from six months to three months.

Mr Watt’s document, which was published by the public accounts committee on its website yesterday, says the absence rate among the 36,571 staff in the Civil Service was running at an average of 4.9 per cent or 11.3 days. It says the direct salary cost of certified sick leave in the service was €57 million, while uncertified sick leave cost €6 million.

Mr Watt’s letter says the cost of certified sick leave for teachers was €61 million. At primary level, teachers had an average absence rate of 8.3 days, while in secondary, community and comprehensive schools the average absence rate was 8.7 days.

The document says the absence rate in the education sector was based on the full year, including weekends, public holidays and periods of school closures.

The largest cost arising from sick leave is in the health sector, which is the biggest employer in the public service with over 104,000 personnel.

The cost of certified sick leave in the health service is €255 million a year, the letter states, while uncertified sick leave cost €35 million.

Sick leave in An Garda Síochána cost €36 million, while in local authorities the bill for certified sick leave was €62 million and €11 million for uncertified sick leave.

In a report last year, employers’ body Ibec said in the private sector workers missed 5.98 days from work on average, an absence rate of 2.58 per cent. It said this rate was down on the average of 3.38 per cent recorded in its last similar study, carried out in 2004.

The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform said its reform programme contained a commitment to review central sick-leave policies in the civil and public service to improve productivity and cut absences.

“The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform has undertaken a review of sick-leave provisions across the public service and has commenced a process of discussions with the public service unions with a view to implementing changes to the sick-leave arrangements.”

“The primary focus of any changes to the sick-leave arrangements will be to realise productivity and performance gains. Any reduction in the provisions for paid sick leave will also reduce the costs associated with sick leave.”

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/fro ... 08775.html

[alterego]

SICK LEAVE across the public service is costing over €550 million a year, according to new official estimates given to the Oireachtas Committee of Public Accounts.

A report sent by the secretary general at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Robert Watt, to the committee says €488 million was paid out in respect of certified sick leave and a further €63 million on uncertified sick leave.

At present, employees in the public service can avail of up to seven days’ uncertified sick leave in a 12-month period. Staff can receive full pay for certified sickness absence for up to six months in one year, and half-pay thereafter, subject to a maximum of 12 months’ paid sick leave in any period of four years.

However, the Government has signalled it wants major reforms to paid sick leave arrangements

One public service union, the PSEU, which represents middle grade civil servants, told members in a note last month that while no formal reform proposals had been put forward, “it is worth noting that unions have been advised that the State as an employer is not in a position to sustain the cost of the current arrangements”.

It warned members that “significant changes are likely to be sought”.

Changing existing sick-leave arrangements would involve one of the most significant reforms in conditions for serving public service staff in years. It is expected to involve negotiations with unions at the Labour Relations Commission similar to the process that resulted in the negotiation of revised pension arrangements for new staff last year.

Some sources said there was an expectation the Government’s opening position could involve cutting the period for which full salary is paid from six months to three months.

Mr Watt’s document, which was published by the public accounts committee on its website yesterday, says the absence rate among the 36,571 staff in the Civil Service was running at an average of 4.9 per cent or 11.3 days. It says the direct salary cost of certified sick leave in the service was €57 million, while uncertified sick leave cost €6 million.

Mr Watt’s letter says the cost of certified sick leave for teachers was €61 million. At primary level, teachers had an average absence rate of 8.3 days, while in secondary, community and comprehensive schools the average absence rate was 8.7 days.

The document says the absence rate in the education sector was based on the full year, including weekends, public holidays and periods of school closures.

The largest cost arising from sick leave is in the health sector, which is the biggest employer in the public service with over 104,000 personnel.

The cost of certified sick leave in the health service is €255 million a year, the letter states, while uncertified sick leave cost €35 million.

Sick leave in An Garda Síochána cost €36 million, while in local authorities the bill for certified sick leave was €62 million and €11 million for uncertified sick leave.

In a report last year, employers’ body Ibec said in the private sector workers missed 5.98 days from work on average, an absence rate of 2.58 per cent. It said this rate was down on the average of 3.38 per cent recorded in its last similar study, carried out in 2004.

The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform said its reform programme contained a commitment to review central sick-leave policies in the civil and public service to improve productivity and cut absences.

“The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform has undertaken a review of sick-leave provisions across the public service and has commenced a process of discussions with the public service unions with a view to implementing changes to the sick-leave arrangements.”

“The primary focus of any changes to the sick-leave arrangements will be to realise productivity and performance gains. Any reduction in the provisions for paid sick leave will also reduce the costs associated with sick leave.”

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/fro ... 08775.html

Health sector is the worst

Don't get ill

[BlueArmyOriginal]

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ire ... tml?via=mr

f%~kin eejits!

[alterego]

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ire ... tml?via=mr

f%~kin eejits!

A "Black & Tan" is a Guinnes & Smithwicks mix. So if the sneakers are "beer" themed, anyone aligning it to the dregs leftover from the first world war is way off the mark.

[sheepshagger]

What colour is 'Munster Red' . . is it light red, dark red or passionate red?

http://www.munsterrugby.ie/news/10287.php

[sid]

Honesty red.

[TerenureJim]

What colour is the Red Hand of Ulster again?

[hugonaut]

I'm going to put in Hartley's ban for consideration. If the minimum entry is 12 weeks suspension, and the guy found guilty has a 26-week ban for eye-gouging on his record, how can you give him less than the minimum?

[fourthirtythree]

I don't know obviously but I'm going to throw the idea that there might be some previous with Ulster and that maybe ferris provocatively put his hand in his mouth. Either that or the availability for the summer tour of a key player...

[Dave Cahill]

What colour is the Red Hand of Ulster again?

Now now, this is a clever ploy by our southern brethren. They want to intimidate and remind their visitors of the Red machine dominating europe

Show Spoiler: