A county-level perspective on housing affordability in Ireland. ESRI Research Notes 2019/4/2

The issue of housing affordability in Ireland has come to the fore in recent years as house prices have increased significantly following the recovery. In a recent survey, Corrigan et al. (2019a) find that 86.5 per cent of renters expressed a preference for homeownership. However, rising house prices have led to serious concerns about the ability of first time buyers (FTB) to enter the housing market. This group has been cited as one particular pressure point in recent assessments of market affordability (Housing Agency, 2017). Analysis published in the ESRI Quarterly Economic Commentary (McQuinn et al., 2018) finds that house price growth has been uneven across the distribution, with cheaper properties growing at faster rates than more expensive properties. This is likely to further exacerbate the affordability concerns of first time buyers, who typically enter the housing market at lower house price levels than second and subsequent borrowers

ILLEGAL EMPLOYMENT OF NON-EU NATIONALS IN IRELAND. ESRI RESEARCH SERIES NUMBER 64 JULY 2017

Illegal employment of non-EU nationals can be defined in two ways, in reference to two different typologies: those who are legally resident working outside the conditions of their residence permit and/or without an Employment Permit, and those who are irregularly resident.1 Illegal employment is defined in this study to mean ‘economic activity carried out in violation of provisions set by legislation’ (European Migration Network, 2014). Illegal employment is hidden by nature, meaning estimating the scale both in Ireland and within the EU is challenging. According to research by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (2015) high risk sectors tend to be characterised by low wages, long hours and a relatively high turnover in staff. Owing to its hidden nature, illegal employment often impacts upon workers’ fundamental rights. Combatting illegal employment is therefore both a social policy and fundamental rights objective, as employees’ rights are often violated (European Migration Network, 2017). This is the first comprehensive study on illegal employment concerning both regularly and irregularly staying non-EU nationals in Ireland, which outlines in detail policy and practice with input from a variety of stakeholders. Its purpose is to provide an evidence base for national and EU policymakers, researchers, practitioners working with non-EEA nationals as well as the general public. The study focusses on policy, law and practice in relation to: prevention measures and incentives for compliance, direct policy initiatives, inspections, sanctions and outcomes for people found to be working illegally

NATIONAL STATUSES GRANTED FOR PROTECTION REASONS IN IRELAND. ESRI RESEARCH SERIES NUMBER 96 January 2020

This study examines the national statuses that may be granted for protection reasons in Ireland. The report focuses on national statuses with a sole basis in Irish domestic law and policy and does not examine in detail EU-harmonised statuses. The national statuses discussed in this report are diverse in terms of their policy objectives, legal basis, procedure and content. However, it provides an overview of the potential means of regularising the status of those with a protection need that is not EU-harmonised. The study covers statuses that were granted in Ireland between 2010 and 2018 and includes any statuses that were introduced and subsequently ceased during the study period. The 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (1951 Refugee Convention) and the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees together form the cornerstone of international protection for persons who have been forced to flee their country due to persecution. The 1951 Refugee Convention sets out the definition of a refugee and the standards of protection to which persons recognised as a refugee are entitled. In the EU context, the EU Qualification Directive seeks to harmonise the status granted to persons seeking protection across the EU and ensure a minimum level of rights afforded to persons recognised as refugees or subsidiary protection beneficiaries. Nevertheless, a wide variety of non-harmonised statuses or national statuses granted to non-EU nationals for protection reasons are in place at national level across EU Member States (EMN, 2010). In Ireland, the International Protection Act 2015 (the 2015 Act) gives effect to Ireland’s obligations under the 1951 Refugee Convention and incorporates EU-harmonised provisions governing international protection contained in the 2004 Qualification Directive. The 2015 Act provides that a successful international protection applicant may be granted refugee status or subsidiary protection. In addition to the two core international protection statuses, Irish law sets out a number of national statuses for persons with a protection need

NATIONAL STATUSES GRANTED FOR PROTECTION REASONS IN IRELAND. Equality ESRI RESEARCH SERIES NUMBER 96 January 2020

This study examines the national statuses that may be granted for protection reasons in Ireland. The report focuses on national statuses with a sole basis in Irish domestic law and policy and does not examine in detail EU-harmonised statuses. The national statuses discussed in this report are diverse in terms of their policy objectives, legal basis, procedure and content. However, it provides an overview of the potential means of regularising the status of those with a protection need that is not EU-harmonised. The study covers statuses that were granted in Ireland between 2010 and 2018 and includes any statuses that were introduced and subsequently ceased during the study period

FAMILY REUNIFICATION OF NON-EU NATIONALS IN IRELAND. ESRI RESEARCH SERIES NUMBER 62 MAY 2017

Joining family is among the myriad reasons for migration, accounting for 30 per cent of all permanent migration into OECD countries in 2015 (OECD 2016). The right to family, or family unity, is a principle enshrined in international, European and domestic law. Family reunification promotes the integration of migrants already in the host country (INIS, 2016a; UNHCR, 2013). The EU Directive on the right to family reunification states that it helps to create socio-cultural stability, facilitating integration and promoting economic and social cohesion. Family reunification is also central to the protection mandate of UNHCR as it is fundamental to ensuring the protection and wellbeing of the individual family members and the integration of refugees (UNHCR, 2001). Family reunification is often a feature of national immigration systems used to attract highly skilled migrants. For example, research identifies the absence of clearly defined family reunification as a possible barrier to attracting non-EEA1 nationals to Ireland (Quinn and Gusciute, 2013). The purpose of this study is to analyse family reunification policy, law and practice in Ireland, considering recent changes in law and guidance. The study focuses on rules governing family reunification for non-EEA citizens. Some comparisons are drawn between the EU context and the Irish context where relevant

Quarterly Economic Commentary Winter 2019

No Abstract

Irish pre-service teachers’ expectations for teaching as a career: a snapshot at a time of transition

Recent graduates of teacher education programmes in Ireland are entering their careers at a time characterized by an erosion of teacher autonomy, increased bureaucratic demands, and narrower curriculum specifications. These changes are typical features of what Sahlberg (2011) has termed the global educational reform movement (GERM), and evidence suggests that they can have a negative impact on teacher morale, and on how teaching as a career is perceived. This, in turn, can have detrimental effects on teacher recruitment and retention. This study examined the career expectations of two cohorts of Irish pre-service teachers (n=491) at the point of transition between college and work. The data gathered were also used to investigate if recent changes to the B.Ed. programme are associated with any changes in career expectations. Overall, teachers indicated strong expectations on issues such as doing a worthwhile job, feeling satisfied with pupil achievement and fulfilling personal needs, however, expectations with regard to the adequacy of salaries were low, and appear to have diminished further throughout the period 2014 to 2016

TRENDS IN MIGRATION TO IRELAND OF NATIONALS OF COUNTRIES WITH VISA LIBERALISATION AGREEMENTS WITH THE EUROPEAN UNION. ESRI SURVEY AND STATISTICAL REPORT SERIES, August 2019

The synthesis report presents an analysis of the impact in terms of direct and indirect benefits, as well as challenges. Tourism is considered a direct benefit, as tourism is one of the purposes of a short-stay visa. There was a rise in tourists from the visa-free countries after visa liberalisation across the EU Member States, although the numbers were modest in the context of overall tourism numbers to the EU. Residence permits for work or study reasons were considered an indirect benefit – as these are not purposes of stay for a short-stay Schengen visa, though a short stay could ultimately influence a longer stay for one of these reasons. The synthesised findings show that the number of residence permits issued to nationals of the visa-free countries more than doubled since 2008, and most of these were issued for employment reasons. Therefore, the report suggests that visa liberalisation could be a facilitator to labour market access. However, a similar link was not found for student migration or for entrepreneurship (EMN, 2019)

AN INITIAL EVALUATION OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF INTREO ACTIVATION REFORMS. ESRI RESEARCH SERIES NUMBER 81 MARCH 2019

This report presents results from an initial evaluation that the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) has undertaken of the effectiveness of the most recent set of activation reforms that have been made to Ireland’s public employment services (PES). The modifications, which are known as the Intreo activation process reforms, were first introduced in 2012 for all newly unemployed Jobseeker’s Allowance (JA) and Jobseeker’s Benefit (JB) recipients only. The reforms have focused on making changes to how benefit and employment services are delivered to jobseekers as opposed to what types of employment services are delivered (i.e., job search assistance, training, education courses, etc.)

Society-wide scenarios for effective integration of Paris-aligned climate mitigation and adaptation in national and regional policy

Climate science (IPCC 2018) and economics (Emmerling et al. 2019; Burke, Hsiang, and Miguel 2015) indicates that achieving far earlier and deeper mitigation than pledged to date is likely now critical to effective climate action – particularly to ensure limits to adaptation are not breached. However, clear and coherent comparisons of national and regional climate action have been lacking. Therefore, here we summarise a benchmarking method (McMullin et al. 2019) to establish a prudent, fair share of the remaining global CO2 budget for any Party to the Paris Agreement. Using Ireland as a case study, we analyse current policy ambition relative to this benchmarked national CO2 quota, demonstrate early emergence of CO2 debt, and show tacit mitigation policy reliance on future large scale carbon dioxide removal (CDR). Toward society-wide scenarios for effective climate action, we further examine the crucial roles of non-CO2 mitigation and safeguarding land carbon stocks