A chara, – The Houses of the Oireachtas paid €808,000 for a state-of-the-art printer (Monster ink: €800k printer too big to fit in Leinster House, November 23rd). Please tell me “state-of-the-art” means it can print money because that is the only thing my recently purchased €25 colour printer, with photocopying capability, can’t do. Also with the ability of printing money it can cover the pay rises Oireachtas staff are demanding to be trained in how to use the printer and it would negate the €230,000 construction costs of getting the printer into the building.
All joking aside, the time has long since passed to remove all spending authority from our political system. – Is mise,
JASON POWER,
Dartry, Dublin 6.
Sir, – The Houses of the Oireachtas paid over a million euro for a printer and subsequent building works to accommodate its bulk, and, in addition, a monthly storage fee of €2,000 was incurred while the works were taking place, (Home News, November 23rd). The mammoth printer is now ready to roll and just in time for Christmas 2019. However, owing to a dispute between the Oireachtas and staff who are to operate the printer, there may be no seasonal cards this year. What a relief! And saves the ink bill too. – Yours, etc,
CLARE BALFE,
Dublin 7.
Sir, – Would it not be cheaper to make and deliver those constituency Christmas cards and New Year calendars by hand? – Yours, etc,
JUDITH GOLDBERGER,
Donnybrook, Dublin 4.
Sir, – Suggested question for the next round of civil service entrance exams (if they still exist – perhaps not): If an opening is x big and a machine (eg printer) is x + 2 big, will the machine fit through the opening?
It could save us a fortune. – Yours, etc,
HUGH Mc DONNELL,
Termonfeckin, Co Louth.
Sir, – In reading the depressing revelation about the waste of money concerning the new Oireachtas printer, I note that staff are looking for a pay rise to compensate them for “upskilling” to use this printer. This has left me wondering as to how much did they ask for when moving from the quill to the fountain pen? – Yours. etc,
BRIAN CULLEN,
Rathfarnham, Dublin 16.
Sir, – Presumably the Government can justify the million euro price-tag on buying, storing and installing a printer (Front page, November 23rd) because it is planning to publish hundreds of thousands of copies of a massive tome explaining why it cannot take care of its most vulnerable citizens. – Yours, etc,
NIALL MCARDLE,
Dublin 7.
Sir, – Would the person who ordered the €808,000 printer for the Oireachtas please stand up? – Yours, etc,
ROSI O’SULLIVAN,
Dalkey, Co Dublin.
Sir, – For that money I presume it must be a 3-TD printer.
Yours, etc,
ULTAN Ó BROIN,
Florence,
Italy.