If it ain't broke then don't fix it
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Aside from the banking system and the Health Service Executive, mention of tribunal lawyers is guaranteed to raise the blood pressure. The latest figures show that 21 of them have earned over €1m each. The top three have pocketed more than €20m in total. All this after years of promises that the fees would be "capped" and the tribunals would end sometime.
At the other end of the value-for-money scale is the points system for university entrance. It is crude and cruel, but it is gloriously and undeniably fair.
For its critics, fairness is not enough. They have argued that it causes too much stress and anxiety, and that it has led to the growth of grind schools, so that those who can afford fees get an advantage. Their voices have been powerful enough to encourage tinkering with the system. So Health Professions Admission Tests are being introduced for medical studies this year.
Some developments have been predictable, some follow the laws of unintended and unforeseen consequences.
New grind schools have sprung up. Stress and anxiety have increased. More fees come into the reckoning. And the merits of the tests themselves have been strongly challenged. When will Irish decision-makers admit that they were wrong and should have left well enough alone?
