Post Troika: Never Waste a Crisis
External event contribution Presentation made at annual ISME conference (8th November 2013).
How did Austerity Affect Ireland?
External event contribution Presentation made to Finnish Delegation (MANDATE offices) Since 2008 the Irish economy suffered a massive fall, with one in every seven jobs being lost. There are two reasons for this. One is the collapse of a banking and construction bubble. The other reason is the effect of austerity. Since 2008...
Options for Investing in Early Childhood Education in Ireland
External event contribution Presentation to the Conference: A Global Gathering for Early Childhood Dublin, October 17th 2013 Abstract: Children are central to the long-term success of any society and economy; of course they are a lot more than that. However, taking the narrow focus of economic policy and long-term investments...
Wages and Ireland's International Competitiveness
At the beginning of the crisis in 2008 it was a widely reported view that Ireland had become uncompetitive, leading to calls for wage cuts. Since then wage rates in the private sector have been largely stable. However, Ireland has shown a strong improvement in exports despite a difficult...
Are wages the problem for the hospitality sector?
On 30th October water restrictions will be imposed in Dublin and other parts of Leinster. It was reported in The Irish Times that there was 'real anger' amongst business owners as water restrictions are imposed from 8pm. However the Restaurants Association of Ireland previously described itself as...
Low Pay &Low Income: some insights on ‘The Working Poor’
Earlier this year Eurostat, the EU Statistics Agency, released data on the number of low-paid workers in Ireland and across the EU. Their analysis defines low-earnings in relative terms measured as those earning two thirds or less of the national median gross hourly earnings. Median earnings are the...
Northern Ireland Discretionary Income to fall by 20%
Discretionary income is the income that households have left over after taxes and spending on essential household necessities like accommodation, food and fuel. The report therefore captures the falling income in Northern Ireland and the rising cost of living. In Particular over the last five years...
Once again, Unemployment not the full picture
Figures released today showed a further drop in unemployment of 5,000 in Northern Ireland over the last three months, bringing the unemployment rate down to 7.3% as opposed to 7.7% for the UK as a whole. While some may take comfort from these figures, as this blog has pointed out before, the full...