‘Recovery in Europe: uneven and incomplete’ is the twelfth publication in Social Justice Ireland’s European Research Series. The purpose of our European Research Series is tocontribute to the debate and discussion on policy issues that affect all members of the European Union. To date this research series has produced comprehensive reviews of Ireland’s performance towards its Europe 2020 targets, a comprehensive examination of the impact of policies pursued by the European Union and its members states after the financial crisis of 2008 and an extensive analysis of how European member states have been performing in terms of social and economic targets after the crisis. Some of this research focussed on those countries most affected by the crisis.
In the first quarter of each year the European Commission release its Country Report for Ireland, detailing its review of the current economic situation, Ireland’s progress with country-specific recommendations previously made by the European Commission, and setting out reform priorities for Ireland in the coming year. In our initial response to this year’s report, Social Justice Ireland welcomed the focus on a number of key areas and set out our proposals on how Ireland might respond to the Country Specific Recommendations.
Providing good mental health services is a necessary investment in the future wellbeing of the country. Research and development in all areas of mental health are needed to ensure a quality service is delivered.
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.
The estimated cost of the overrun of the budget for the National Children’s Hospital currently stands at €450m. Details have emerged of where the €99m to cover the cost of the National Children’s Hospital overrun in Budget 2019 will come from. This will have an impact across a number of Departments and projects in 2019 and comes with a social and economic cost as well as a political one. Government has yet to identify where the remainder of the €350m to cover the cost overrun will come from. This information should be made available to the Oireachtas as soon as possible.
A study published in the Journal of Epidemiol & Community Health has found that ‘housing tenure, cost burden and desire to stay in own home’ are all associated with higher levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), a biomarker associated with infection and stress. With the number of households in private rented accommodation continuing to rise in Ireland, what does this mean for future generations and what policy responses are needed?
700,000 on healthcare waiting lists, 500,000 homes without broadband, over 11,000 people homeless – a result of Government policy failing to tackle causes - Social Justice Ireland publishes National Social Monitor Winter 2018.
In order to improve the wellbeing of everyone in society, at all stages of the life cycle, it is vital that our policies address the causes of problems rather than their symptoms only. It is through this lens that Social Justice Ireland examines the ten policy areas in the National Social Monitor.
This section of our National Social Monitor Autumn 2018 provides a brief insight into the healthcare crisis, focusing on the waiting lists across Ireland's hospitals and how they affect the m
With 10,000 people - including 3,600 children - homeless, 72,000 mortgages in arrears, and 86,000 households on social housing waiting lists, it can hardly be denied that Government policy is a dramatic failure.
