Seanad Éireann: 100 years of Ireland’s Upper House

Ireland and the changing global foreign direct investment landscape

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>Lack of access to affordable quality homes constitutes a significant crisis for workers, families and communities in the Republic of Ireland. Current government plans appear to be insufficient to make a significant impact. Pressure on individuals and families is a direct consequence of under - investment over many years, as well as a failure on the part of a market-led and property-developer-led model of housing to deliver enough dwellings to meet the needs of a growing population. The optimum solution, we propose, is the establishment of The Housing Company of Ireland, which will draw on long-term borrowing combined with an equity injection from the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, and will undertake or commission, on a commercial basis, a programme of planning, building, acquiring and renting of new homes. This investment will supplement and further strengthen work by the local authorities and the voluntary housing associations in the area of social housing.</abstract>

Ireland’s housing crisis – The case for a European cost rental model

Gender budgeting in Europe: What can we learn from best practice?

Promoting rational decision-making and enhancing transparency in the public service

A duty to value: Implementing the public sector equality and human rights duty

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This article explores the first academic study on the housing crisis on Ireland’s offshore islands through a case study of the experiences and views of islanders on the West Cork islands. The paper covers the risk which the current housing crisis in Ireland represents for the ability of the West Cork islands, already susceptible to depopulation, to retain the next generation of existing inhabitants and attract newcomers. Through a participatory research project conducted between October 2021 and November 2022, the article reveals the challenges facing the West Cork islands in terms of housing affordability, availability and quality, and how these impact on the sustainability of island living. It also documents innovative policies and initiatives that islanders would like policymakers to implement to ensure the housing crisis is addressed and full-time populations on the islands are secured and sustained. The article concludes by reflecting on the recent <italic>National Islands Policy 2023–2033</italic> in light of the current study.
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Housing and the West Cork islands: a national crisis in microcosm

The early years sector: a case study in policy development and investment

125 years of local democracy in Ireland

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The focus of this paper is social care managers’ views on the impact of the statutory registration of social care workers in Ireland. The findings suggest that registration is welcomed by social care managers who believe that it will impact positively on societal recognition of social care workers as professionals and that it will improve accountability within the sector. However, the findings also suggest that there is confusion regarding information about registration and issues remain in the sector regarding multiplicity of titles, roles, and duties of social care workers. We conclude that the opening of the register is only a further step towards the professionalisation of social care in Ireland and that more action is needed to address inconsistencies within the field of work.
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Social care managers’ perspectives on statutory registration of social care workers in Ireland

Place-based leadership development: scaling up collective impact

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This paper compares the amendments introduced by the Regulation of Lobbying and Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) (Amendment) Act 2023 with the original regulations of the Regulation of Lobbying Act 2015. The study was conducted using the Hired Guns Method for assessing the robustness of lobbying legislation, developed by the Centre for Public Integrity (CPI), allowing findings to be compared with lobbying regulations internationally. The 2015 legislation was introduced after years of tribunals, scandals, unfulfilled political promises, and economic crisis, in an effort to increase the public’s trust in politicians, representative institutions, democracy and the wider bureaucracy. The 2023 Amendment came in the wake of a 2020 lobbying scandal. The paper finds that, despite the CPI score remaining unchanged, in-depth examination of the legislation showed that the amendment introduced more rules and sanctions, particularly in relation to designated public officials, and closed off outstanding legislative loopholes.
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Regulating more? Comparing Ireland’s original and amended lobbying legislation

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>Access to housing is a crucial issue worldwide. It is still under discussion whether collaborative economy is enhancing or, on the contrary, constraining access. In this context, the concept of ‘collaborative housing’ (collaborative economy applied to the funding, access and organisation of housing) arises to address a range of situations that might potentially help people to access housing, such as co-housing or the so-called ‘intermediate tenures’. Disintermediation through blockchain technology, and the resultant effect of a reduction in the transaction costs of access to housing, is one of those trends regarding collaborative housing. Accordingly, the adaptation of the disintermediation mechanism to the real estate conveyance and land registry, as in many other sectors of the collaborative economy, is timely. This can be achieved by exploring the potential of this mechanism in enhancing traditional methods of this sector through possible technological solutions. This paper presents a preliminary discussion on the different types of collaborative housing and the potentials of the blockchain technology to facilitate access to housing in relation to real estate conveyancing and registration.</abstract>

Collaborative housing and blockchain

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> There is an emerging consensus that place leadership is the missing piece in the local and regional development puzzle. In this context, leadership is a hidden form of agency, shadowed by such visible forms of influence as structures and formal institutions, as well as development programs and plans. This article argues that one of the most central issues in a study of place leadership is to analyse the relationships between governance, power and place leadership. The governance arrangements are undoubtedly important, as they dictate the kind of resources and positions provided to regional development work, and thus they also enable, as well as constrain, the many efforts of regional champions to exercise power in complex development processes. It is argued here that revealing how place leadership is enacted in different places and times would allow us to flesh out novel aspects about the eternal questions of how and why some places are able to adapt strategically to ever-changing social, economic and environmental circumstances while others fail to do so. Additionally, deeper investigations of place leadership would hopefully allow us to provide policymakers and practitioners with added insight on the ways to make regional development policies and practices not only more strategic but also effective. This paper elaborates the conceptual link between place leadership, governance and power.</abstract>

Place leadership, governance and power

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> One of the most striking reconfigurations of Irish social care has been the entry of private for-profit companies into a sector previously regarded as outside the market. This article examines the policy context that has given rise to these developments and the impact of marketisation on both the quality of care provision and the employment conditions of the workforce. Whether for-profit provision of care is a positive development is the subject of intense debate, and the arguments for and against are outlined alongside a range of empirical evidence. International research evidence is not convincing about the capacity of markets to deliver on quality or efficiencies. The article concludes with recommendations for further research to enable analysis and debate in the Irish context.</abstract>

Going to market! An exploration of markets in social care

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>Placeless power, meaning the exercise of power by decision-makers who are unconcerned about the impact of their decisions on communities living in particular places, has grown significantly in the last thirty years. A consequence is that societies are becoming more unequal. Even in the wealthy global cities modern capitalism is increasing inequality at a formidable rate. In a new book the author provides an international, comparative analysis of the efforts being made by place-based leaders to create inclusive, sustainable cities. This article draws on the evidence presented in the book to suggest that place-based leaders can play a significant role in advancing social justice, promoting care for the environment and bolstering community empowerment. An opening section introduces the idea of place-based power, providing a context for the subsequent discussion. A second section sets out a new way of conceptualising the roles of place-based leaders in any given context, a framework described as the New Civic Leadership. This distinguishes five different realms of civic leadership. The third section provides an example of place-based leadership in action. It outlines the way local leadership has brought about a remarkable transformation of the central area of Melbourne, Australia. A final section presents a comparative discussion of three themes relating to place-based leadership and local collaboration: (i) the changing possibilities for place-based leadership in our rapidly globalising world, (ii) the need for outward-facing local government leadership given the changing nature of public policy challenges and (iii) the role of place-based leadership in bringing about radical public innovation.</abstract>

Place-based collaboration: Leadership for a changing world

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>This paper discusses the outcomes of a participatory research process with homeless parents living in Dublin-based emergency accommodation, during which a critical appraisal of a range of government schemes was coconstructed. The focus is on examining the impacts on vulnerable families of the marketisation of social housing. This is examined through the homeless families’ attempts to procure private rented housing using the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) and their experience of life in family hub emergency accommodation. The significant challenges experienced by homeless families are examined from the perspectives of human rights and capability theory. The paper concludes that the Rent Supplement, Rental Accommodation Scheme and HAP are costly market-oriented schemes and unlikely to provide satisfactory long-term housing solutions, while family hubs are far from ideal from a capability or human rights perspective. Only a significant increase in the direct provision of social housing by local authorities and housing associations can provide ontological security and well-being, and advance human-rights-based social housing.</abstract>

An absence of rights: Homeless families and social housing marketisation in Ireland

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