Summary of ideas submitted in the Services (local) category…

• Establish an agency where people with savings could lend money to businesses that can’t get a loan from the financial institutions.
• Establish an emergency plumbing/heating service that is not profit driven and provides assistance to the less fortunate in today’s economy.
• Establish mentoring services.
• Every service provider should have a policy of tapping into the service user’s feedback to improve service/reduce waste, especially in health sector.
• Follow a European model whereby everyone contributes to the cost of their health service directly from salaries.
• Free up bank lending for SMEs.
• Get insurance companies to collect motor tax for corporations.
• Give mortgage term extensions to those unable to pay bad debts.
• Government bodies have become weak, unproductive and inefficient; revamp the way government is run
• Government/Government hired firm to provide pension services cheaply.
• Hotels should offer free corkage/free photographer to increase wedding business.
• Incentivise property owners to carry out ’small’ works on their properties and have these works performed by qualified people who are presently claiming jobseekers’ allowance.
• Increase the period of parental leave for parents with children from 154 weeks currently to say 26 weeks and raise the eligibility limits to make it available to parents of children Up to and Including aged 12.
• Increase water rates
• Individuals or companies can pool their skills and services in return for ‘credits’.
• Install cashboxes on buses where OAPs can make donations to cover their free fare if they so wish.
• Install night-saver electricity metres in every home, business, school etc in the country.
• Integrate local HSE/County Enterprise/County Council/MABs and other services into one building.
• Introduce a credit card size driver licence
• Introduce charges for water, roads and other services financed by local authorities.
• Launch a campaign against inefficiencies in public services
• Launch a national newspaper recycling scheme.
• Let banks bid for customers deposits
• Local Councils should employ people laid off in the construction industry to build and repair council properties.
• Local government and hospitals should be allowed a roll-over budget each month.
• Make it illegal for car insurance companies to cover learner drivers who are unaccompanied.
• Make it possible for people to invest in their local schools
• Many qualified technicians and other staff are on a 3 day week. The company who is operating a 3 day week and has fluctuations in the requirements of services should be allowed to allow the staff on a 3 day week report for work as normal on their “off days” This measure would self-fund the benefits that the Government are paying to the individual.
• Monday is designated ‘Positive Monday’ where the media are asked to dedicate prime airtime to positive things happening in the economy/country.
• Monitor where money is being spent on local amenities.
• More efficient use of labour hours and machine hours, reduce costs in purchase of machinery when local authorities are contracting.
• Nationalise Ireland’s natural resources.
• Only pay public sector workers a maximum of 5 days sick pay.
• Open a new national government-owned bank
• Organise community business meetings to network.