Why do waiters get them, but bartenders don't? Should it be spare change or a set percentage? Fiona McCannexplores the vagaries of tipping

Spaniards have been officially outed as a nation of overtippers. Their economy minister, Pedro Solbes, last month complained that his coffee-drinking countrymen had become a little over-generoso since the arrival of the euro. "I see people leaving tips of one euro for a coffee, which is 50 per cent of the product's value," he observed at a Socialist Party economic forum in Madrid.

It certainly seems a tad flaithiúlach, but if the Spanish are confused, they're not the only ones. Irish people are equally addled over a tipping culture that seems to become increasingly complicated as more services are added to the list of things we used to do ourselves.

With someone now on hand to cook your food, park your car, file your nails and open the door for you, it's fair to assume they're not doing it for kicks, but for kickbacks.

Added to this is the increase in Irish people travelling abroad and the changing demographic brought on by a rise in immigration. It means a slew of imported norms mixing with local traditions and muddying the etiquette rules that govern the practice of tipping.

A quick poll of punters on Dublin's Grafton Street this week revealed a great deal of confusion about when to tip, who to tip and, crucially, how much?

Let's start with the basics. Restaurants are the easy bit. According to the section on Ireland in online information bank About.com: "Tipping in Ireland is like an arcane art mastered by only a few enlightened individuals."

Travel site Tripadvisor suggests: "Dependent on the style and calibre of restaurant, tipping of at least 10 per cent and upwards is expected." Which, it appears, is what most Irish are sticking to, unless service is included in the bill. Restaurant tipping may be a straightforward and relatively painless process, but our safe negotiation of a meal out is only the tip of the tipping iceberg.

The Irish who descended on New York last month for their Christmas shopping may have found themselves in for a long wait at the bar, unless they'd wised up to the local custom of tipping a dollar or two with every drink.

It's a habit that has yet to take off in this nation of tipplers and, while bartenders may be keen to see it encouraged, it's the kind of imported affectation that could end up doing serious damage to the financial standing of a serious drinker.

"I think that tips are always at the discretion of the customer, but they're always well appreciated," says Declan Byrne, president of the Bartenders Association of Ireland. "You can tip at the end of the night to show your appreciation for the service you received. On the other hand, if you tip on the first round handsomely, you're always guaranteed to get better service for the remainder of the night."

Irish clientele may feel that leaving cash on the counter after a round is a dangerous practice, but Byrne says that there are ways around it. "It is more common for an Irish person to buy the bartender a drink as opposed to putting the money on the counter."

There's no definitive rule, but a quick survey of the general public finds many confused at the notion of tipping a bartender anything more than a handful of change, or a drink at the end of the night for particularly good service.

According to 61-year-old Frank Venebles, from Dublin, tipping lounge staff is appropriate, but he says he would not be inclined to extend a gratuity towards a bartender.

"At lounge bars and that, the people are only on pittance anyway, so it kind of makes up for their wages," he says. "But to a barman or an owner, I wouldn't be bothered tipping. It's just for people doing part-time work to get a few bob."

Much of which seems to tally with the advice from Margo Bellew, etiquette expert and author of The Impressive Way to Meet, Greet and Eat and Social Arts: Frequently Asked Questions. "Tipping is for people to show appreciation of good service," she says, "but you never tip the owner of any establishment."

A logical rule on paper, but hard to get right in the melee of a city-centre bar on a Saturday night. Blame our North American neighbours for the confusion, if you like, and then add some special vitriol for New Yorkers whose relentless tipping of taxi drivers has hit our local radar. Those who have failed to catch on are subject to lengthy searches for change by drivers who apparently hope that you'll capitulate.

So should we be tipping taxi drivers' too? Most of us, it appears, already are, according to Tommy Gorman, president of the National Taxi Drivers Union.

"In most cases, people round off their fare: if it's €18, they'll maybe give 20," he says. He does believe that while tipping is already in existence in Ireland, taxi drivers should remember that tips must be earned.

"You have to help people with baggage, or directions, and being a good conversationalist is one of the main ingredients," says Gorman, who adds that it's also remiss of passengers who have received such service to fail to tip. "If a taxi driver is very courteous and he helps the passenger in whatever way he can, I would say it is a bit neglectful not to acknowledge that."

By now we're bleeding cash, and haven't even gone near the tipping minefield that is the beauty industry and hairdressers. Here, nobody seems to agree, except to suggest that the whole area requires clarification.

Beaut.ie's Kirstie McDermott says tipping is now de rigeur in salons across the land. "I think in general it's acceptable to tip the person who washes your hair two or three euro: after all, he or she is likely to be a junior and not getting paid too well. If I'm pleased with my cut, I have tipped a tenner, but proportionally, that's not a massive tip really, if the cut cost €70 or €80. In general, I tend to leave about a fiver," she specifies, adding: "I also don't think you should feel obliged to tip if you got savaged and end up looking like Pat Shortt."

It's one thing to know to tip, and another to know how to do so without any damage to the dignity of either party. Do you slip it into your stylist's hand like a generous uncle or leave it at the till when you pay, with instructions that it's for the girl with the firm head massage?

"The stylists normally wear a purse around their waists and you just put it in there, or you leave it on the counter in front of them," explains Margo Bellew.

But if hairdressers and hairwashers are to be tipped, where can it possibly end? What of the waxers and pluckers, the masseurs and the pedicurers?

"There is a feeling that beauty therapists here aren't paid as well as they could be, and certainly not respected as much as they are elsewhere," admits Kirstie McDermott. "In Hungary, they're held in high regard, paid well and valued. And that's a cultural thing because Hungarian women are very into skincare and so they build relationships with their facialists, just as Irish women do with their hairdressers. So we'll probably see that happening here over the next few years as more and more women go to salons for regular treatments and build relationships with their therapists, and I think a tipping structure will become established from that."

For now? "It's like anything, if you're happy, leave 10 to 15 per cent, if not, don't. Tipping is a politic thing to do, especially somewhere you intend to become a regular. You'll find it may be easier to get last-minute appointments and all those other little luxuries like cups of coffee, if you're generous," says McDermott.

That's beauty, then, but dig down between the sofa cushions, because tipping doesn't end there.

"Garbage disposal people should be tipped at Christmas, always. It should be a minimum of €10, but ideally about €20 per house," says Bellew. "You give them a Christmas card, saying thank you for your services throughout the year, and give the money in the envelope."

The same goes for the postman, who should be tipped a "similar amount" at Christmas, according to Bellew, while pizza deliverers also deserve a slice of the action. "It's a little touch of appreciation for the fast service and the smile, if you get it. I recommend €3 or €4 and a verbal thank you," she says.

A quick recap, then, for the tipping novice: the waiter, the bartender, the loungestaff, the hairdresser, the hair washer, the delivery guy, the postman, the binman, the taxi driver, the manicurist and the leg waxer all deserve a tip. Of at least 10 per cent.

And we haven't even mentioned hotel staff (€5 a night for whoever cleans your room, 15 per cent for room service) or porters (€1 per bag). So what does that leave us with, apart from a seriously depleted wallet? Hopefully better service, says Bellew.

"By and large, tipping was to improve service," she claims. After all, that's where the concept came from in the first place, with brass urns placed in coffee houses in 16th-century England inscribed with the phrase "To insure promptitude", later shortened to "tip".

Jars have replaced urns, and "Tipping is not a city in China" or the ubiquitous smiley face have replaced the 16th-century inscription, but promptitude - and maybe the occasional smile - is still the aim, and when it's bestowed, it does no harm to reward it.

Tipping guide Who and how much?

Waiter: 10 to 15 per cent of the bill

Barman: Discretionary, but a safe guide is the price of a drink at the end of a night

Lounge staff: A euro or two per round

Hair stylist: €5 to €10 per cut

Hair dressing assistant: Around €2

Beauty therapist: Around €2

Hotel cleaning staff: €5 a night

Postman: €20 at Christmas

Refuse collector: €20 at Christmas