The focus in this text is on the historical development of Irish social policy, with a discussion of major influences - such as the European Union - on policy formation.

This 2nd edition of a highly respected textbook offers a comprehensive introduction to Irish social policy. It provides an accessible, critical overview taking account of significant changes over recent years. The book is organised across four key sections: 1: Traces the emergence and development of Irish social policy from its origins to the present 2: Situates the Irish case in the wider context of the politics, ideology and socio-economic factors relevant to the development and reform of welfare states 3: Analyses core social service areas with specific reference to the contemporary Irish context 4: Explores how social policy affects particular groups in Irish society including children, older people, people with disabilities, carers, new immigrant and minority ethnic groups, and LGBT people. Discusses the challenges posed by environmental issues and the importance of a social policy perspective Text boxes used throughout provide policy summaries, definitions of key concepts, along with guides for further reading and discussion. This is a valuable resource for undergraduate and postgraduate students studying Irish social policy and allied subjects.

This completely updated edition of 'Contemporary Irish Social Policy' gives an overview of the historical development of each policy area and discusses current and future issues in the field.

About the history of Ireland from 1912 to 1985, focusing on political, social and revolutionary events.

This book provides a comprehensive introduction to public policy and administration in Ireland, thereby bridging the gap between general texts on public policy and policy analysis and books on Irish politics. Each chapter covers one of the key issues in policy analysis, eg. rational choice, corporatism, and then illustrates this with an empirical Irish case study. With the inclusion of further reading, overviews of main concepts and source material, the editors provide a student-friendly textbook which fills an important gap in the available literature on Irish politics and public administration.

This book provides a critical and theoretically-informed assessment of the nature and types of structural change occurring in the Irish welfare state in the context of the 2008 economic crisis. Its overarching framework for conceptualising and analysing welfare state change and its political, economic and social implications is based around four crucial questions, namely what welfare is for, who delivers welfare, who pays for welfare, and who benefits. Over the course of ten chapters, the authors examine the answers as they relate to social protection, labour market activation, pensions, finance, water, early child education and care, health, housing and corporate welfare. They also innovatively address the impact of crisis on the welfare state in Northern Ireland. The result is to isolate key drivers of structural welfare reform, and assess how globalisation, financialisation, neo-liberalisation, privatisation, marketisation and new public management have deepened and diversified their impact on the post-crisis Irish welfare state. This in-depth analysis will appeal to sociologists, economists, political scientists and welfare state practitioners interested in the Irish welfare state and more generally in the analysis of welfare state change.

Introductary textbook on the social services in Ireland - covers social development, guaranteed income, housing (incl. Planning of housing needs, housing policy, living conditions, etc.), Education, health services, welfare (incl. Social work), etc., And includes comparisons with EC social policy. Bibliography pp. 265 to 270, references and statistical tables.

This book explores the factors which have shaped the Irish welfare state, through a case study of social security development between 1939 and 1952. At the heart of contemporary debates about the influences shaping welfare state outcomes lie the concepts of industrialisation, modernisation, religion, and patterns of state-formation. The Irish case provides a unique insight into these debates. Ireland is a European welfare state, but one in which colonial legacies are paramount. It is a modern, but late-industrialising nation, and for much of the modern period, Catholicism has been unusually influential. The book looks at how these idiosyncratic Irish experiences shaped a distinctive welfare state, and considers what this tells us about contemporary theoretical perspectives on social policy. This account of the behind the scenes battles over social security, tells us a great deal about how the welfare state in Ireland took the shape it did, and in the process, raises questions about well-established accounts of the role of the Church, political parties, and interest groups in shaping distributive outcomes which would persist for many decades.

The Economy of Ireland (14th edition) takes a holistic examination of the Irish Economy in light of events including the Celtic Tiger boom, recession, recovery and a global pandemic. The textbook considers the evolution of the Irish economy over time; the policy priorities for a small regional economy in the eurozone; the role of the state in policy making; taxation and regulatory policy; and the challenge of sustainable development. This provides a framework for analysing policy issues at a national level, including the Irish labour market and migration, inequality and poverty, and the care economy. The book then considers issues at a sectoral level, from agriculture and trade to the education and health sectors. Packed with the latest available data, contemporary examples and analysis of topical issues, this is an ideal text for students studying modules on Irish Economics.

The book's focus is on the implications for Irish social policy of social change including the need to respond to changes resulting from immigration and shifts within the Irish welfare economy that have created new needs for social care. Many of the chapters locate Irish debates about care in a broader social policy context. This is a companion volume to "Contemporary Irish Social Policy and Theorising Irish Social Policy".