Seanad Éireann: 100 years of Ireland’s Upper House

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>In the fifty years since the publication of the Buchanan report, <italic>Regional Studies in Ireland</italic>, Ireland has transitioned from a rural to an urban society. Although a number of spatial plans have been introduced at regional and local levels, the growth of over 1.5 million people in the urban population has occurred in the absence of any strong national-level direction of spatial or settlement policy. This paper examines the nature of urbanisation in the half-century since 1966, by looking at the development of the urban hierarchy of cities and towns. Significant long-term changes in both the structure and the spatial expression of the urban hierarchy are identified, on the basis of which urbanisation is characterised as having been deconcentrated and decentralised. The paper identifies some implications of the observed shifts for contemporary policy concerns, and in particular the 2018 <italic>National Planning Framework</italic>.</abstract>

Fifty years of urbanisation in Ireland: Structural and spatial evolution of the urban hierarchy since Buchanan

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>Some policies fail to achieve their goals and some succeed. More often than not, it is unclear whether a policy has been a success or a failure, sometimes because the goal was not clear, or because there were a multitude of goals. In this introduction to this special issue we discuss what we mean by policy success and failure, and assume that policy success or failure is ultimately the result of the decision-making process: policy success results from good policies, which tend to come from good decisions, which are in turn the result of a good decision-making process. We then set out a framework for understanding the conditions under which good and bad decisions are made. Built upon factors highlighted in a broad literature, we argue that a potential interaction of institutions, interests and ideology creates incentives for certain outcomes, and leads to certain information being gathered or prioritised when it is being processed. This can bias decision-makers to choose a certain course of action that may be suboptimal, or in other cases there is an absence of bias, creating the possibility for making successful policy choices.</abstract>

Policy success/policy failure: A framework for understanding policy choices

<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

Digital economy and the future of social security

Ireland and the changing global foreign direct investment landscape

European Union, 2023

Health services, 2023

Justice, 2023

Education, 2023

Civil service, 2023

State agencies and enterprises, 2023

<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

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

<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

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Volume 72 (2024): Issue 1 (February 2024) Special title: Review of developments, structure and management in the public sector 2023

Volume 71 (2023): Issue 4 (December 2023)

Volume 71 (2023): Issue 3 (August 2023)

Volume 71 (2023): Issue 2 (May 2023)

Volume 71 (2023): Issue 1 (February 2023) REVIEW OF DEVELOPMENTS, STRUCTURE AND MANAGEMENT IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR 2022

Volume 70 (2022): Issue 4 (December 2022)

Volume 70 (2022): Issue 3 (August 2022)

Volume 70 (2022): Issue 2 (May 2022)

Volume 70 (2022): Issue 1 (February 2022) REVIEW OF DEVELOPMENTS, STRUCTURE AND MANAGEMENT IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR 2021