Next week the NERI will be holding a seminar on the topical issue of water charges (detail are here). In advance of the seminar, this blog provides some thoughts on funding water services in Ireland. Access to clean and affordable water is a human right. Yet there is no such thing as free water. On...

Income levels, whether for individuals or households, are far from perfect measures of progress and well-being. However, they offer one insight into the experience of recent years for households across the Republic. In particular, trends in disposable income (income after taxes and welfare payments)...

Posted on November 02, 2014 by Tom Healy The story goes about a town built just beyond the bend of large river. One day three bodies were sighted floating along downstream in the river. One body was dead so they buried it. One was alive, but quite ill, so they put that person into the hospital. The...

People classified as part-time underemployed are those who wish to work full-time, but cannot find a full-time job. Underemployment statistics touch on both the quality and quantity of work available to a sizable cohort in the labour market. In a sense, underemployment refers to a situation where an...

The October NERI seminar took place yesterday afternoon in the INTO Learning Centre. Michelle Murphy (Social Justice Ireland), Cormac Staunton (TASC) and Michael Taft (UNITE) provided on overview of the impact of the Budget 2015 with a focus on changes to system of income tax and the prospects for...

Judged from an income taxation perspective, Budget 2015 was reminiscent of Budgets of ten years ago, or more - maybe a worrying starting point! Cuts to income taxes dominated the announcements, and policy implementation within the Budget. This was at the cost of other priorities, including securing...

There are some positive elements to the Budget but overall it represents a major missed opportunity. The economics behind Budget 2015 are shaky to say the least. An expansionary budget based on tax cuts for the better off fails the economic best practice test and also fails the equity test. The...

There are over 90,000 people on the waiting list for social housing. This level of demand for a basic need required a substantial investment in housing, and, in this regard, Budget 2015 was a significant first step. The headline investment of €2.2 billion over the coming three years to provide 10...