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Policy issues concerning Population

Embracing Ireland as a multicultural society

24th April 2019

In 2016 President Michael D.Higgins spoke of the importance of embracing mulitculturalism when he said "Difference is a resource.  Difference is richness.  That is the Ireland that is unfolding before us and I welcome it.".  With those words, the President laid down a marker to view diversity as a benefit, rather than a drain, enriching all of society.  The rise in populism and anti-immigrant sentiment is a danger to society and democracy.  It polarises communities and incites hatred, and in some cases, violence.  Ireland needs to take a whole of society and policy approach to embrace multiculturalism for the benefit of all.

Time to create a statutory basis for Home Care

6th March 2019

Support for people to remain in their own homes is a key and appropriate policy objective and coincides with the wishes of most older people. A key component of this is a statutory basis for home care packages.

ALONE report calls on the Oireachtas to take action to prevent a housing crisis for older people

13th July 2018

A Report published by ALONE is calling on Government to act now to prevent a worsening housing crisis for older people.http://alone.ie/alone-report-calls-on-the-oireachtas-to-take-action-to-prevent-a-housing-crisis-for-older-people/

Research Institute urges UK Government to adopt Basic Income

23rd January 2018

Current welfare systems were not designed to adapt to the challenges presented by automation and globalisation and are not fit for purpose. That's the view of a new paper from the Adam Smith Institute in the UK published to coincide with the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos this week. The institute argues that governments should look to Universal Basic Income (UBI) experiments around the world as they seek to address the risks posed by large-scale changes to the labour market while retaining the benefits of trade and technological progress.

Ireland needs a new and radical social contract

18th April 2017

Ireland’s social contract is broken.  The legitimate expectations of citizens are not being met.  This is most obvious in areas such as housing and homelessness, a two-tier healthcare system, an ongoing failure to provide rural broadband and high levels of poverty and social exclusion, especially among children.  2017 is the first year of a new century for Ireland and now is the perfect opportunity to develop a new and radical social contract for Ireland’s second century. 

Social Justice Ireland's analysis and policy proposals on Rural Development

28th February 2015

Ireland needs an integrated transition from an agricultural to a rural and regional development agenda to improve the quality of life for all rural dwellers.  This will require policy coherence in terms of investment, social services, governance and sustainability as part of our Policy Framework for a Just Ireland.  A full analysis of the challenges in promoting facing Rural Ireland and our policy proposals are contained in our Socio-Economic Review 2015 ‘Towards a Just Society’.  The chapter is available below.

Social Justice Ireland's analysis and policy proposals on Housing

22nd February 2015

Ensuring that adequate and appropriate accommodation is available for all people and the development an equitable system for allocating resources within the housing sector forms a core piece of Social Justice Ireland’s Policy Framework for a Just Ireland. A full analysis of the policy challenges and proposals on Housing are outlined in our Socio-Economic Review 2015 ‘Towards a Just Society’.  The chapter is available below.

Welfare, Regulation and Democracy

18th November 2014

Professor Colin Scott's presentation at the Social Policy Conference 2014 is available to view.  Click the 'read more' link below to watch a larger video or to download the full text of the presentation.

Census 2011 - Ireland - First Definitive Results

2nd April 2012

The first definitive results of the 2011 census, undertaken on 10th April 2011, show that Ireland’s population continued to grow strongly from 2006, increasing by 348,404 to 4,588,252, and that the total number of non-Irish nationals increased by 124,624 persons or 29.7 per cent from 419,733 to 544,357.

Ireland's population rises to almost 4.6m while 294,000 dwellings are vacant

30th June 2011

The total population in the Republic of Ireland is 4,581,269 according to the Census 2011 preliminary results. This is an increase of 341,421 on the 2006 census. In percentage terms this shows an increase of 8.1 per cent over the past five years, or an annual average of 1.6 per cent, compared to 2.0 per cent per annum in the period 2002-2006.