Mechanisms for Assessing Preferences and Satisfaction for Publicly Provided Goods in Ireland

Information about performance of public services as assessed by the users is not in very large supply in Ireland. Like most areas of life where information is rationed, many alternative forms spring up in its wake

I have a brief list here of the different types available in Ireland and have added this post to the permalinks on the side. If any others come to mind, please add them to the comments and i will put them on the post. As well as websites and regular inspections, many departments of course conduct surveys and polls at different intervals and I dont try to record all of these.


Unofficial Sites
One of the most prominent is Ratemyteachers. This allows students and former students to give their teachers grades and to make comments. These are publicly displayed on a website that anyone can view

http://www.ratemyteacher.ie/

A website called Irishhealth.com offers several methods for users to recall their experience of various aspecst of the Irish health system. One feature of the site is "Rate My Hospital". Over 12,000 people have recorded votes for the hospitals and ranking analyses are available as standard on the site.

http://www.irishhealth.com/

http://www.irishhealth.com/hospital/

There is a real question about how reliable these type of data can be viewed. Clearly, there is the possibility that only people who are trying to make a statement will use them or people who have a direct interest (e.g. if you are a teacher would it not be possible to spend a few hours on different computers singing your own praises? - judging from the site about 20 ratings would be enough to tip the balance in your favour!)

Official Government Sites

The Health Information and Quality Authority provides statisical information on quality of care in Ireland. Details of their work is available on the site below

http://www.hiqa.ie/

School Inspection Reports from the Department of Education can also be viewed

http://www.education.ie/insreports/school_inspection_report_listing.htm