The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects on householder behaviour of the introduction of pay-by-weight as a method of charging households for waste collection. It is well known that, in theory, such charges would reduce the amount of waste collected but whether and how this would...

Mixed findings emerge from this ex post Cost-Benefit Analysis of a major water investment programme in Ireland. Water supply and conservation investments, where most benefits were internal, generally proved worthwhile. Wastewater investments could not be analysed fully due to lack of...

This paper provides updated estimates for the scale of fuel poverty in the Republic of Ireland using two measures: one based on fuel expenditure as a share of income and the other based on self-reported deprivation. It also presents modelling results as to the characteristics of households most...

The purpose of this study is to check the monetary value of the recreational use of Irish forests using two different valuation methods on the one dataset - the Travel Cost Method and the Contingent Valuation Technique - and in doing so test convergent validity, i.e. whether they are consistent...

The understanding of natural laws underlies the research programme so that we can 'obey nature' and thereby develop in a sustainable way - but let us not forget that human behaviour is part of nature's ways too. Human nature must also be understood. Socio-economic research, which looks into how...

An Energy Service Company (ESCO) is a firm that offers to reduce its client's energy bill, with the cost saving being split with the client. ESCOs in the full sense of the term offer finance for their projects, will accept the risk of the project and are remunerated in proportion to the savings...