Small firms that offer health insurance to their employees may face variable premiums if the firm hires an employee with high-expected health costs. To avoid expensive premium variability, a small firm may attempt to maintain a workforce with low-expected health costs. In addition, workers with...

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...

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...

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...

New ESRI research, funded by the Health Research Board, finds that older people are discharged from hospital more quickly in areas with more home care and residential care services.

A statutory scheme for the financing and regulation of home support services is a key Sláintecare reform proposal. An Economic and Social Research Institute report entitled "Demand for the Statutory Home Support Scheme" is the first of three research projects funded by the Department of Health...