"getting an IR in the States is often just rating collection"
I suggest you go and do an FAA IR before posting such generalised drivel.
On the currency, it's true that one can knock off the 6 IAPs under the hood with a safety pilot, but few aircraft owners who fly for real to real places need to do that. And those that don't don't need to, so there isn't a safety issue. Just like with PPL training; most people never get to use it, so the fact that the training is mostly cr*p (relative to the legal privileges of a PPL) doesn't cause any problems.
If every PPL went off and flew to privileges, ATC would collapse (under the infringements), and the training establishment would get shut down pending a complete review of the syllabus.
If every JAA IR went off and got into the plane they can (some rented spamcan, no good for IFR and probably illegal for IFR in CAS) and flew it to his privileges, the result would be similar; perhaps slightly less bad.
As I've said, currency is the key and unfortunately aircraft ownership is the key to currency.
This is the real problem which most IMCR holders struggle with. It's not a problem for IR holders because.... there are so few of them it doesn't matter.