I don’t rant much, but I feel I need a bloody good one at the minute, so I’m afraid you’ll have to indulge me.

I always renuew my tax on-line, and have to say I think it’s a great service. You just type in the code, fill in a short form and your payment details, and in 4-5 working days your new disc appears in the post - magic. No queuing at the tax office - the mother of all queues. This time however, I met a glitch. I did everything as per usual but then the disc never arrived. I have been obsessively checking the post - nothing. My current disc is up today and I should have had the new one three weeks ago so I called the helpline.

The lady on there said I had to go to the Gardai, and get them to fill in a form saying the disc was lost, and then go to the tax office - queue - and get a new disc issued. OK, so that’s a pain in the ass, but doable, this once. So I do all that, get my form stamped by the Garda, and go to the tax office to get my disc.

I queue, and the lady there issued me a disc and then charged me €6 for loosing the other disc! Oh yes, they charged me for losing it, even though I never got it. I was very polite and explained that it wasn’t my fault it was lost, but she explained - firmly - that that’s my tough, and if I want a new disc I have to pay.

It’s not the money, it’s the principle of the thing: why should I pay for the lost disc that I never received? I’m ragin’.