- Read more: Ireland’s Childcare Problem: What We Have, and What Denmark Does Differently
This paper argues that Ireland’s recent childcare fee cuts, while helpful to many parents, are masking the real problem. Ireland still has a shortage of childcare places and an underpaid workforce that subsidies alone can’t fix. This paper uses Denmark’s guaranteed-place, publicly- funded model as a benchmark to show an alternative approach to childcare.
- Read more: Beyond access: Inclusive work placements and transitions from higher education to employment
Widening access to higher education is only part of the challenge. This paper shows why equitable participation in work placements for students with disabilities requires coordinated action across higher education institutions, employers, professional bodies and policymakers
- Read more: EU Court Upholds Minimum Wage Directive in Victory for Social Europe
The ruling preserves key provisions on wage adequacy and collective bargaining, revealing how employer lobbying inadvertently expanded EU social policy powers.
- Read more: Economic forecast for Ireland
The European Commission has published the latest macroeconomic forecast for Ireland. “Ireland’s GDP is forecast to grow exceptionally by 10.7% in 2025, largely reflecting strong export activity in the first half of the year. As the frontloading effect unwinds, growth is expected to moderate to 0.2% in 2026, reflecting a technical base effect from 2025…
- Read more: Closing the Gender Pay Gap: Learning from Ireland’s Pay Data and European Transparency Reforms
This paper examines the implementation of Ireland’s pay transparency regime under the Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021. It argues that shortcomings in data quality, enforcement, and structural supports have limited its impact and risk reducing pay reporting to a symbolic exercise. The paper concludes with six recommendations to make transparency a mechanism for accountability…
- Read more: Gender Balance in Business Survey 2025
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has published Gender Balance in Business 2025.
- Read more: Women and Men in Ireland Hub
The Central Statistics Office has published an update to the Women and Men in Ireland Hub. This Hub was developed in March 2024, using the latest data from both the CSO and other public service bodies, to provide a comprehensive one-stop-shop for equality data related to women and men in Ireland. The data is broken down…
- Read more: Advancing Gender Equality through EU Regulation: Work-Balance Directive
In recent years, gender equality has become a top priority for the European Union (EU). The European Commission has recognized that the disproportionate share of care responsibilities that women shoulder affect women’s underrepresentation and advancement in the labour market. It estimates that the economic loss due to the gender employment gap amounts to €370 billion…
- Read more: Rebuilding Local Authority housing capacity: a design for an apprenticeship guarantee scheme
Housing is the main social service provided by local government (Callan 2018), yet since 2019 the number of vacant homes owned by local authorities has stood at around 4,400 annually (NAOC 2019-2022). Given the ongoing housing crisis, this situation has often led to adverse media and political commentary (RTE 2023; Irish Daily Mail 2024). This…
- Read more: Towards a National Better Work Strategy
The National Economic and Social Council’s (NESC) report, Towards a National Better Work Strategy has been published.
