This research examines the impact of a home energy efficiency upgrade programme on social housing tenants. Employing a quasi-experimental approach we examine a range of self-reported and objectively measured outcomes, including metered gas consumption, for a control and upgrade group, before and...

Can improving local infrastructure in underdeveloped areas encourage entrepreneurial activity? If so, which infrastructures and by how much? This paper analyses the impact on new business establishments of broadband infrastructure, motorways, airports and railways and a range of other local...

In order to better understand the potential for both policy and technological improvements to aid carbon abatement, long-term historical information on the time-path of transition from more traditional to cleaner fuels is useful. Knowing how this varies by socio-economic, demographic and...

The paper uses a multinomial logit model to study the determinants of domestic space heating systems in Ireland. Nine types of heating systems are considered, classified by fuel type (liquid, electric, gas and solids or combinations thereof). Heating system choice is modelled as a function of...

The purpose of this report is to undertake an ex-ante evaluation of the cost effectiveness of alternative radon prevention measures for new build properties in Ireland. Radon is a naturally occurring gas that primarily enters a building by seeping through the ground floor. Radon is the...

This paper tests whether households that are offered broadband service for the first time tend to delay in taking it up. Using cross-sectional data on broadband take-up and socioeconomic characteristics of small areas in Ireland, linked to GIS data on ADSL availability, I find that local...

This paper examines how local government planning regulations and charges affect the deployment of telecommunications infrastructure. We explore the economic rationale for local government regulation of such infrastructure, which we suggest should be based on managing negative externalities....

This paper combines data from a government programme providing broadband access to primary schools in Ireland with survey microdata on schools', teachers' and pupils use of the internet to examine the links between public subsidies, classroom use of the internet and educational performance....

Despite ongoing efforts by regulatory authorities, there is significant noncompliance with the EU Nitrates Directive among farms in Ireland. Nutrient pollution harms water quality and ecosystems, and farms are subject to fines for noncompliance. This paper examines reasons for noncompliance and...

There is an unequal supply of health and social care across counties in Ireland, according to new ESRI research funded by the Health Research Board (HRB). It finds that the commuter counties of Kildare, Meath and Wicklow had the lowest supply overall of ten primary, community and long-term care...