The Budget 2027: NERI Post Budget Analysis seminar was presented by Mr. Michael Taft (SIPTU), Ms. Susanne Rogers (Social Justice Ireland) & Dr. Daniel Higgins (SIPTU). It took place on Thursday 8 October, 2026 from 15:30 - 17:00 as an online Teams event.
Please find the presentations from Mr. Michael Taft (SIPTU), Ms. Susanne Rogers (Social Justice Ireland) & Dr. Daniel Higgins (SIPTU) & the video.
Lecture Format:
Mr. Michael Taft (SIPTU), Ms. Susanne Rogers (Social Justice Ireland) & Dr. Daniel Higgins (SIPTU) were allocated 15-20 minutes to make their presentations responding to aspects of Budget 2027. This was followed by a Q&A session where the questions were presented through the chairperson, Dr. Tom McDonnell (NERI) to the three presenters, Susanne, Michael & Daniel.
Biography of Presenters:
Mr. Michael Taft is a Research Officer with SIPTU and author of Notes on the Front, a political economy blog. He is also a member of the National Competitiveness and Productivity Council, and the Low Pay Commission.
Ms. Susanne Rogers is a Research and Policy Analyst with Social Justice Ireland, an independent think tank and justice advocacy organisation that advances the lives of people and communities through providing independent social analysis and effective policy development to create a sustainable future for every member of society and for societies as a whole. Susanne leads on community development and social inclusion policy for Social Justice Ireland as well as researching and developing policy and strategies in the areas of income distribution, social inclusion, public participation, access to services.
Susanne has an honours degree in Theology and English literature (All Hallows,DCU), an Advanced Diploma in Money Advice Practice (University of Ulster) and a Masters in Social Justice and Public Policy (Waterford Institute of Technology).
Susanne sits on the Department of Rural and Community Development Public Participation Network National Advisory Group and the Central Bank of Ireland Consumer Advisory Group.
Dr. Daniel Higgins currently works as an economic researcher with the SIPTU trade union. His work encompasses a wide range of issues for the most part related to employee relations and government policy.
He had a mix of professional research and academic study before he graduated with a PhD in Economics from the University of Galway.