Despite improvements in the labour market Irish underemployment combined with unemployment is 22.3%. The underemployed figure includes those who are part-time unemployed and those who wish to work but are not actively seeking work. The underemployment rate has been falling more slowly than...

In 2013, unemployment in Germany, at 5.3 per cent, was at its lowest level since reunification. In the same year, Spain’s unemployment rate, 26.4 per cent, was at its highest level since at least the 1960s, before which reliable statistics are more difficult to come by. Austrian unemployment is also...

Recently the Government in the Republic of Ireland issued a White Paper on Universal Health Insurance . In it, the Government states: ‘it has set out an ambitious plan for the most far-reaching and fundamental reform of our health system since the foundation of the State.’ It describes the proposed...

Housing and Ireland’s Economic Recovery Housing has been one of a number of issues that has sat at the core of Ireland’s recent economic collapse. The very expensive lessons of recent years must not be lost; excessive house prices were not good news for the economy or society generally. The latest...

The impact of the various austerity measures over recent years has been, and continues to be, felt by families in every corner of the country. Whether it is pay, public services or social welfare; all measures point towards a drop in living standards that has been hard felt. Recent data from the CSO...

The recently released CSO SILC report offers an updated insight into the composition of those living below the poverty line in Ireland. That line equalled €203.50 per week for an individual and €338 per week for a couple in 2012 (the year of the most recent data). Overall 16.5% of the population...

Have you difficulties reading and understanding your telephone bill? How will you fare on the forthcoming Water charges bill if you live in the Republic of Ireland? Today, on the island of Ireland, there are approximately one million adults with serious challenges in relation to reading and the...