This paper undertakes an exploratory examination of the factors that affect where patients receive treatment from Irish acute public hospitals, with particular regard to the influence of patients' public/private status. National univariate statistics indicate that private discharged patients are...

The public/private mix in Irish health care is nowhere more evident than in the acute hospital system where both public and private patients can be treated in public hospitals by the same consultant. By undertaking new analyses of data from the Hospital In-Patient Enquiry Scheme, this study...

This paper describes a structural dynamic microsimulation model of the household that has been developed to explore behavioural responses to pensions policy counterfactuals in Ireland. The model is based upon the life-cycle theory of behaviour, which assumes that individuals make their decisions...

This paper examines the impact on inequality and poverty of the economic crisis in four European countries, namely France, Germany, the UK and Ireland, and the contribution of tax and benefit policy changes. The period examined, 2008 to 2010, was one of great economic turmoil, yet it is unclear...

The advent of the Great Recession and the widespread adoption of fiscal austerity policies have heightened concern about inequality and its effects. We examine how the distribution of income in Ireland has evolved over the years 2008 to 2013, using data from the CSO's Survey on Income and Living...

The Programme for Government indicated that under a Universal Health Insurance system, the State would "pay insurance premia for people on low incomes and subsidise premia for people on middle incomes". This paper examines issues in the design of such a subsidy scheme, in the context of overall...

Comprehensive modelling of the impact of taxes and tax policy options requires data on the impact at micro-level of both direct and indirect taxes. There are, however, limits on the amount of data that can be gathered by any one survey. With some exceptions, most notably the Living Costs and...

The Irish healthcare system includes a complex mix of entitlements - some are universal, others age-related, and some are income-related. In this report, we concentrate on the major income-related entitlements in the current system i.e., the Medical Card and the GP Visit Card. Most medical cards...

Since March 2017, a new income-related housing support for those with a long-term housing need called Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) has been available throughout the state. This paper examines the potential impact on financial work incentives of transferring long-run Rent Supplement...

In the context of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the residential sector, fuel switching from coal and oil to natural gas is considered as a policy option. The paper considers fuel choice decisions among households within 30 metres of the Irish natural gas network. Consistent with earlier...