Wages have been falling since 2009 in the Republic of Ireland. This deterioration has been accompanied by (i) an erosion in purchasing power as the prices of most goods and services rise and (ii) less money in people’s pockets as taxes and public charges have risen and many social payments have been...

The ratio of unemployed people to job vacancies is a measure of the extent of labour market tightness—the higher the ratio, the less opportunity unemployed individuals have to find employment. The current rate in Ireland is 24 people for every job vacancy available. This suggests the economy is...

Following the publication of the recent NERI working paper on total household tax contributions, there have been a number of issues raised by commentators and others on the paper, its data and its conclusions. Of course, given the topic, that comes as no surprise. Taxation is always a contentious...

The week gone by brought some mixed news in regards to wages and employment trends in the Republic of Ireland. The recovery in total estimated employment from about the end of 2012 has continued into 2014 but at a much reduced pace. At the same time, wages are dropping slightly on average (before...

How much Tax do people really pay? Too often considerations of the taxation system are focused on income taxes, or income related taxes like social insurance; a narrow perspective given the composition of taxation revenue received by the exchequer. Indeed, the oft-cited phrase ‘taxpayers’ is...

Ireland joined a growing international living wage movement in July when the Living Wage Technical Group launched the 2014 Living Wage. In principle, a living wage is intended to establish an hourly wage rate that should provide employees with sufficient income to achieve an agreed acceptable...

The speed of economic recovery in the UK has taken many by surprise. First the good news. Employment is up. Retail sales are up and business investment is expanding. This is good news for exporters in the Republic of Ireland especially those in sectors such as agri-food where, traditionally, the UK...

Fracking – or Induced hydraulic fracturing to give it its full technical term – is rapidly developing as an issue of public debate. In the United States where fracking has been in operation for many years the output of oil and gas is making a significant contribution to opening up alternative...