Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
LEINSTER HOUSE authorities have said they are hoping to meet with the administrators of the popular KildareStreet.com debate-tracking website to resolve a technological impasse that has left the site unable to read Oireachtas debates.
The heavily-trafficked site, managed by a small team of volunteers, has been left unable to track Dáil and Seanad debates after the transition between two Oireachtas websites meant the necessary functions to manage KildareStreet.com were essentially wiped out.
Beginning from this week, transcripts of all Oireachtas debates – whether in the Dáil, Seanad or at committee level – will not be published on the existing Oireachtas debates site, debates.oireachtas.ie, but instead be available on a separate site: oireachtasdebates.oireachtas.ie.
The previous debates system allowed users to access debate records in several ways, including a highly-detailed XML feed which was converted by KildareStreet.com into a useful site that breaks down the contributions of each member in ways not readily available elsewhere.
The new version, however, has no similar automatic XML function – without which the only way to catalogue a politician’s contribution to debates would be to scrape the text from the new Oireachtas site. This would be immensely time-consuming if done by hand, and could take several months to automate.
The changeover is part of cost-cutting moves by Oireachtas authorities involving a reduction in the amount of work outsourced to independent companies.
Previously a private company was contracted to convert Oireachtas transcripts, which were compiled through the Lotus Notes data management software, into an XML format which was then used to power the Oireachtas website as well as KildareStreet.com.
This will no longer be the case, however – with the new debates site, which is more directly integrated with the Lotus Notes system, now going without any XML compatibility.
A circular from the Oireachtas communications unit has advised TDs and Senators that the Debates office had switched sites “in order to achieve significant long-term savings”. This involved switching from publishing the debates in XML format to HTML, the programming language used to display webpages.
“This change has caused problems for Kildarestreet.com as they cannot use their XML-based software with our content,” the circular read.
This was contested in a statement posted by KildareStreet.com administrator John Handelaar, who argued: “Since there is no longer any XML data feed (or any other data feed) to capture, we challenge him to cite whatever magical software he imagines can capture a vacuum”.
The statement explained that about 35 per cent of the site’s traffic came from IP addresses allocated to users within the government – a fact which illustrated the reliance of official parliamentary and governmental users on the site.
“The new Oireachtas debates website does not have a search engine of any kind, is hostile to disabled users, is riddled with bugs which lead users to dead-end error pages, and has been intermittently offline since launch,” Handelaar criticised.
“It is impossible to link to a particular statement, or to follow a particular topic, or to get email alerts of any kind,” he added – highlighting functions which were available through his own site until it was rendered defunct.
It remained unclear at the time of writing, however, whether the Oireachtas’ intentions included plans to add XML functionality to the new site, so that KildareStreet.com could be revived using its existing technologies.
The difficulties with the site have been raised by several TDs, including independents Stephen Donnelly and Catherine Murphy, and was discussed in the Seanad yesterday by senators Jillian van Turnhout, Terry Leyden and Thomas Byrne.
KildareStreet.com is built on code also used by TheyWorkForYou, a site which offers similar debate-tracking features for debates in UK parliaments including the Northern Ireland Assembly.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
There is nothing more demoralizing than being bullied or intimidated in the workplace.
You want to give 100% to the customer/company and enjoy your job.
But it only takes 1 or 2 sad individuals to destroy any good feelings you have.
It saps your self confidence and ability to give the customer the service they deserve.
It isn’t physical intimidation (these bullies are far too scared to do that) .
It’s the whisper campaigns , doing things they know annoys you, they turn other workers against you and basically make life miserable.
Sad little individuals.
I left a job I truly loved 10 years ago and still regret it.
@Justice Mickey: Same thing happened to me.HR didnt want to know.Ended up having to quit.Found out later he had been asked to leave his previous job for the same thing.Nasty piece of work.
@Trish O’Leary-Dunne: I’ve see it happen. Nasty pieces of work, like you, I reported it in writing, & faced the bully nose to nose, he backed down and moved on to other softer touches, & like you most of these people, packed up & moved on. The Employer lost some fantastic people, & another loser is the Employer.
Moral in my storey is, stand up to the B’ast4rds, they cant handle it when someone puts it up to them. I know that shouldn’t be the way, but in life you gotta do what you gotta do?
@Trish O’Leary-Dunne:
So sorry to read that Trish and hopefully you are in a better place mentally and physically.
Happy New year to you.
@Dom Layzell:
HR are totally useless and toothless, I confronted the ring leader and went Nose to Nose and he was scared shitless but it reverted back once he had his sleveen devious buddies behind him.
Then he made sure there would never be another opportunity.
Bullies are nothing but sad little cowards whit zero personalities or social skills.
They think that by belittling someone they are seen as “The big man/woman”.
I would hate to be in their shoes and be know as a pure looser and be the laughing stock.
In most cases these people turn into miserable old and unwanted people that will die alone and nobody will care.
@Justice Mickey: you’re wrong – it’s bad enough being subjected to bullying but what is even worse is when you bring the matter to the attention of your HR Department as advised & HR then proceeds to ignore their own policies and timelines continuously for months/years on end, while you continue to have to work with the person who bullies you…. that is demoralising & that is what currently goes on in some civil/public service jobs
@Justice Mickey: Thank you.I ended up in a job i love with amazing people so he did me a favour in the end!
@Justice Mickey: HR are there to protect the company, not the employees. Don’t listen to anyone in HR trying to tell you otherwise.
Bullying is in every workplace. People with comments, snide remarks, looks, judging, deliberately leaving people out from a conversation or not inviting them to lunch etc. Then these bullies play the victim when a complaint is made, that’s all bullying if you make a person feel uncomfortable. It says so much about the person /people doing it. Some people can make others feel physically sick about going in to work because of the way they are treated and it makes me so mad. But these bullies have other issues you have to remember this.
Quite a misleading headline, at odds with the statistics presented in the body.
11 complaints in 11 months for a force of 14000. Well done to the Gardai. They seem to be well on top of the problem.
Bullying costs lives. It’s incalculable how much decent man and woman hours have been lost to the public, all around the country, through incompetent middle and senior management. Just look at the incompetence of senior management that was exposed through the Maurice McCabe affair. Just look at what came out.
have your say