Ireland’s natural environment is in trouble. The most recent national assessment of the status of EU protected habitats and species reveals that 91% of 58 major habitat types are in unfavourable condition (NPWS, 2013). Of this proportion, 41% are described as ‘bad’ and another 50% as ‘inadequate’. Although by comparison, 12% of species are listed as being in ‘bad’ status and 20% as ‘inadequate’, these figures include some formerly common species such as the freshwater pearl mussel. The Irish Red List of birds of most conservation concern lists 37 species, including once familiar birds such as the curlew and yellowhammer.

The investigation of, and intervention into the alleged abuse of older people has become a dominant feature of social work in Ireland. The international definition of elder mistreatment adopted in most western countries including Ireland, is: ‘Elder abuse is a single or repeated act or lack of appropriate action occurring within any relationship where there is an expectation of trust which causes harm to an older person’ (WHO, 2008; WHO/INPEA, 2002). Operationalising this abstract definition is to describe types or categories of abuse that older people can be subjected to - physical, sexual, psychological, financial and neglect. Although valuable, the limitations of these narrow and mutually exclusive categories are increasingly recognised (Anand et al., 2013; O’Brien et al., 2011; Naughton et al., 2012). There is a major lack of understanding of the voice and experiences of older people in relation to abuse (Anand et al., 2013; Charpentier and Souliéres, 2013; WHO, 2002b). Irish research has demonstrated that older people conceptualise elder abuse as the loss of voice and agency, diminishing status in society, violation of rights and wider societal influences that undermine a sense of individualism and ‘personhood’ (O’Brien et al., 2011; Naughton et al., 2013).

Using firm-level data from the Irish Census of Industrial Production for the period from 1991-2009, we look at how Irish manufacturing firms adjust their input mix in response to changing energy prices. We find that an increase in the price of energy causes the demand for energy inputs to fall, while the demand for capital, material and labour inputs rises. This indicates that the other factors of production are substitutable with energy in the Irish manufacturing sector.

Clubmoss species are moss-like plants without flowers. Ireland is home to four members of the Clubmoss group (Lycopodiaceae): Huperzia selago (L.) Bernh. ex Schrank & Mart., Diphasiastrum alpinum (L.) Holub, Lycopodium clavatum L. and Lycopodiella inundata (L.) Holub. All four species are listed as a group in Annex V of the European Union Habitats Directive (92/42/EEC). Annex V lists species whose taking in the wild may be subject to management measures. Under Article 11 of the Directive, each member state is obliged to undertake surveillance of the conservation status of the species in the Annexes and under Article 17, to report to the European Commission every six years on their status. The conservation status of a species is assessed under four parameters: Range, Population, Habitat for the species and Future prospects. This project investigated these four parameters for the four species in the group and devised methods and protocols for the next round of reporting 2012-2018 which is due in 2019.

Systemic risk refers to the risk of financial system breakdown due to linkages between institutions. This risk cannot be assessed by looking at how individual institutions manage risks but instead requires a full understanding of how the system as a whole operates. At present, the data available to central banks and financial regulators are not at all adequate for the task of assessing systemic risk and the new European Systemic Risk Board needs to address this issue. There is a lot of exciting ongoing research devoted to measuring systemic risk and providing signals to regulators as to when and where they should intervene. However, the tools being developed are still limited in their usefulness. Perhaps more pressing than the development of these tools is the implementation of policy measures to make the financial system more robust. These measures should include higher capital ratios, limits on non-core funding and redesigning financial systems to be less complex.

Irish society is quite homogeneous. According to the 2011 census, of a population of 4 588 252, 84% are Roman Catholic, 6% non-religious, 2.8% Church of Ireland (Protestant), 1% Muslim, and the remainder are of various other religions. 85% describe themselves as ‘White Irish’ and 0.6% as Irish Travellers. 58 697 people identify as ‘Black’ or ‘Black Irish’. Between 2006 and 2011 ‘Other White’ (non-Irish) rose by almost 43%, largely due to immigration from Eastern European countries. 595 355 people, approximately 13% of the population, recorded having a disability. No census questions were asked as to sexual orientation but 4 042 cohabiting same-sex couples were recorded. Non-Irish nationals consisted of 544 357 (12% of the population), 386 764 of whom are nationals of another EU Member State.

Irish society is quite homogeneous. According to the 2016 census,1 of a population of just under 4.8 million, 78.3 % are Roman Catholic, 9.8 % are non-religious (an increase of 73.6 % from 2011), and the remainder are of various other religions. 82.2 % of the population describe themselves as ‘White Irish’ and 0.7 % as Irish Travellers.2 57 850 people identify as ‘Black African’ or ‘Black Irish’, with 9.5 % belonging to ‘Any other White background’. 643 131 people, approximately 13.5 % of the population, recorded having a disability. A total of 6 034 same-sex couples live in Ireland. Non-Irish nationals number 535 475 (11.6 % of the population), with UK citizens and nationals of other EU countries (Polish, Lithuanian, Romanian and Latvian) comprising the top five nationality groups. Ireland’s anti-discrimination laws were expanded significantly in the late 1990s. The Employment Equality Act 19983 and the Equal Status Act 20004 provided for nine discriminatory grounds and established a national equality body, as well as a dedicated forum for hearing anti-discrimination complaints, the Equality Tribunal. From 2008 successive national budgets severely curtailed funding for equality infrastructure. In November 2014, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC)5 was established as Ireland’s national equality body. The body is equipped with equivalent powers to its predecessor, and its funding position has improved. The Equality Tribunal was subsumed, along with several employment rights bodies, into the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) in 2015.6 The impact of this change (if any) on discrimination complaints cannot yet be evaluated.

Irish society is quite homogeneous. According to the 2016 census,1 of a population of just under 4.8 million, 78.3 % are Roman Catholic, 9.8 % are non-religious (an increase of 73.6 % from 2011), and the remainder are of various other religions. 82.2 % of the population describe themselves as ‘White Irish’ and 0.7 % as Irish Travellers.2 57 850 people identify as ‘Black African’ or ‘Black Irish’, with 9.5 % belonging to ‘Any other White background’. 643 131 people, approximately 13.5 % of the population, recorded having a disability. A total of 6 034 same-sex couples live in Ireland. Non-Irish nationals number 535 475 (11.6 % of the population), with UK citizens and nationals of other EU countries (Polish, Lithuanian, Romanian and Latvian) comprising the top five nationality groups.

Irish society is quite homogeneous. According to the 2016 census,1 of a population of just under 4.8 million, 78.3 % are Roman Catholic, 9.8 % are non-religious (an increase of 73.6 % from 2011), and the remainder are of various other religions. 82.2 % of the population describe themselves as ‘White Irish’ and 0.7 % as Irish Travellers.2 57 850 people identify as ‘Black African’ or ‘Black Irish’, with 9.5 % belonging to ‘Any other White background’. 643 131 people, approximately 13.5 % of the population, recorded having a disability. A total of 6 034 same-sex couples live in Ireland. Non-Irish nationals number 535 475 (11.6 % of the population), with UK citizens and nationals of EU countries (Polish, Lithuanian, Romanian and Latvian) comprising the top five nationality groups.

Report to the Minister for Health, Government of Ireland:All Covid-19 deaths and all nursing home and residential home deaths in Ireland must by law be reported to the Coroner, the independent Judicial Officer of the State, in the District in which they occur. This enables accurate and early collation of these death reports. Between 1st January 2015 and 30th June 2020 3,342 deaths were reported to the Coroner’s District for Kildare. From 11th March 2020, when the first Covid-19 death occurred in Ireland, to 30th June 2020 there were 1,738 Covid-19 deaths nationally of which 139 were reported in Kildare with 113 (81%) of these deaths in nursing and residential homes. The calculated excess number of deaths notified for January to June 2020 compared with 2015-2019 was 198 (41%) of the 484 total deaths reported with a 131 (45%) excess in the 293 deaths in nursing and residential homes. Covid-19 deaths accounted for 70% and 86% of these excess deaths respectively. Following subtraction of the 18 non-natural cause deaths and 139 Covid-19 deaths from the total excess there remained an unexplained excess of 60 deaths due to natural causes in March to June of 2020 compared with 2015-2019. The peak excess total death percentage was 359% in April 2020, commencing with a small excess in March (30%), continuing into May (63%) and falling again in June (37%). In the nursing and residential home setting those excess death percentages were most marked at 527% in April, with 27% in March, 54% in May and 17% in June. Underlying medical conditions were recorded in 99% of those dying from Covid-19 and the average age of the deceased was 82.5 years with median of 78 years and 55% of those dying were female and 45% male. The clinical epidemiology and documented excess mortality of the reported deaths are chronicled and analysed to learn also about the future challenges with the continuing Covid-19 infection. A centralized national mortality database providing near real-time death certification enhances infectious disease surveillance and prompt clinical epidemiology and mortality excess studies and reduces under-reporting of Covid-19 deaths.

All Covid-19 deaths, all nursing home and residential home deaths and deaths due to an adverse drug reaction must by law in Ireland be reported to the Coroner, the independent Judicial Officer of the State, in the District in which they occur. From 11th March 2020, when the first Covid-19 death occurred in Ireland, to 28th February 2021 there were 4,443 Covid-19 deaths nationally of which 230 (5%) were reported in Kildare with 163 (71%) of these deaths occurring in nursing and residential homes. The clinical epidemiology and documented excess mortality of the reported deaths are chronicled and analysed in this second report for three distinct periods of March to June 2020 (Period 1); July to December 2020 (Period 2); and January to February 2021 (Period 3) which also correspond with three “lockdown” periods, and for the consolidated “Covid-19 year” period from March 2020 to February 2021 (“the year”). These periods and annual figures are compared with the previous 5-year mortality figures noting that between 1st March 2015 and 28th February 2021 some 2,837 deaths were reported to the Coroner for the District of Kildare. The calculated excess number of deaths notified for March 2020 to February 2021 compared with 2015-2020 (5-yearly average of 567) was 300 (53%) of the 867 total deaths reported with a 169 (54%) excess in the 480 deaths in nursing and residential homes (5-yearly average of 311). Covid-19 deaths accounted for 77% of the total excess deaths and for 96% of the nursing and residential home excess deaths respectively. Following subtraction of the 66 non-natural cause deaths and 230 Covid-19 deaths from the total excess there remained an unexplained excess of 56 deaths due to natural causes in March 2020 to February 2021 compared with 2015-2021. Thus, the number of unattributed excess deaths actually fell marginally between July 2020 and February 2021 taking into account the figure of 62 in the first report for March to June 2020. Underlying medical conditions were recorded in all but two of those deaths related to Covid-19 and the average age of the deceased was 82.2 years with median age of 83 years and 58% were female (134) and 42% male (126). The numbers and percentages of Kildare Covid-19 cases out of the national cases were: 139 of 1,728 or 8% in Period 1; 26 of 575 or 5% in Period 2; 65 of 2,140 or 3% in Period 3; and 230 of 4,443 or 5% for the Covid-19 year. The excess total death percentage was 117%, 16%, 46% and 53% in the three periods and year respectively. In the nursing and residential home setting the corresponding numbers and percentages of Kildare cases out of the national cases were 113 of 985 or 11% (Period1); 9 of 175 or 4% (Period 2); 41of 668 or 6% (Period 3); and 163 of 1,828 or 9% for the Covid-19 year. The excess death percentages were 142%, 4% , 35% and 54% in the three periods and year respectively. Information analysed for this study allows Covid-19 public health policy and strategy to learn from mortality events and about the continuing challenges of the infection. The report is also set in the wider context of the Coroner Service and its role during the pandemic. The comments and observations are made on clinical epidemiology, co-morbidities, post mortem practices, bereavement, vaccination and the public health imperative for a centralized national mortality database and reformed death notification and certification systems for infectious disease surveillance. The tragic deaths in County Kildare of 230 individuals are best remembered and honoured by actions arising from that learning process to minimize the worst outcomes of any future similar infectious pandemic or if Covid-19 becomes a recurrent seasonal infection and some are recommended on foot of the findings and questions raised in this report. A legislative explanatory note is included at the end of the reference section.

This study explored the effects of technology investment on Northern Ireland's economy. It found that firms investing in technology experience increased employment growth and offer higher wages. However, the impact on overall productivity is minimal. The relationship between technology investment and economic outcomes varies based on firm size. Understanding these dynamics is crucial for policymakers, business owners, and the public to address the productivity puzzle and mitigate job insecurity and inequality. Our research supports the Department for the Economy's vision and emphasises the importance of balancing technological advancements with inclusive growth strategies.

Compilation of contributions to a direct provision Blogathon on Human Rights in Ireland (www.humanrights.ie) on 10 April 2014, marking 14 years of the system of direct provision.

This report explores equality issues arising in the collection and publication of data in Ireland and the ways in which data may be used in equality policies and practices.

This case study focuses on reception conditions for asylum seekers in the European Union. 

This report has been commissioned to appraise and draw together the main findings of a small Pilot Project on Family Group Conferences (FGCs) aimed at examining the specific fit between family group conferencing and child protection. This is an aspect that had not been previously pilot-tested specifically in Ireland. The pilot project was conducted in the North Tipperary Community Care Area of the Mid-Western Health Board (MWHB) over the period September 2001 to February 2002. The report first describes the FGC process and the pilot project. It provides details of the Conferences held as part of the Pilot Project, as well as the views of the multiple participants involved. The report analyses and presents findings and recommendations.

The purpose of the Adoption Guide and the Framework is to enable agencies and their professional workers to perform their key functions to an appropriate, explicit and consistent standard; to make explicit and transparent the process and the areas which potential adopters will be expected to engage in with the agency; to establish the range of checks which workers would be expected to undertake in respect of prospective adopters; to establish the decision-making process. Decision-making should encompass: if adoption is in the best interests of a particular child and if the applicants should be approved to adopt? Furthermore the question is the match between the child and the family suitable and appropriate?