A STUDY OF GENDER IN SENIOR CIVIL SERVICE POSITIONS IN IRELAND. ESRI RESEARCH SERIES NUMBER 66 DECEMBER 2017

Women make up the majority of those employed in the civil service but are underrepresented at the most senior grades, where key policy and operational decisions are taken. Action 8 of the Civil Service Renewal Plan commits to improving gender balance at each level, including senior grades. The present study was commissioned by a high-level steering group set up to oversee implementation of this action. It draws on a combination of administrative data, reanalysis of the Civil Service Employee Engagement Survey conducted in 2015, and in-depth work history interviews with 50 senior civil servants across four departments. In addition, in-depth interviews were conducted with staff involved in recruitment and promotion within the public service. This rich combination of data yields new insights into the processes shaping gender differences in representation at the most senior grades of the civil service and thus provides a strong evidence base to inform future policy and practice

MATERNAL EMPLOYMENT AND THE COST OF CHILDCARE IN IRELAND. ESRI RESEARCH SERIES NUMBER 73 SEPTEMBER 2018

Childcare has become an increasingly salient issue for Irish society as the proportion of women with young children in the workforce has grown over recent decades. International comparisons of the price of formal care for preschool children indicate that Ireland has one of the highest costs as a proportion of household income across the OECD. The costs of childcare are frequently invoked as a barrier to maternal employment, especially for low-income groups and lone parents. However, there are relatively few systematic analyses of the real costs for families or of how these costs influence employment outcomes for mothers. This study draws on information from the Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) Survey to investigate childcare costs for children up to the age of five, with a particular focus on costs at age three before children enter the school system, which is the peak period for participation in non-parental childcare in terms of both the numbers of children and hours of childcare. The GUI is the largest source of nationally representative data on the types and costs of childcare for pre-school children in Ireland

RISK TAKING AND ACCIDENTS ON IRISH FARMS: AN ANALYSIS OF THE 2013 HEALTH AND SAFETY AUTHORITY SURVEY. ESRI RESEARCH SERIES NUMBER 60 MAY 2017

The agricultural, fishing and forestry sector in Ireland has the highest rate of both fatal and non-fatal work-related injuries compared to other sectors (Health and Safety Authority (HSA), 2016). The HSA commissioned a 2013 nationwide research study to examine farm safety issues. That study involved a postal survey of farmers selected at random from the HSA database of farms, with a small booster sample of questionnaires completed by face-to-face interview at marts. Findings were presented in a report focusing on descriptive results regarding intentions to work safely, published in 2014 (HSA, 2014). The present study involves an in-depth analysis of the same survey data, but goes beyond the original report in calibrating the data to represent all farms and conducting detailed statistical analysis to identify the most important factors related to risk taking and how this is linked to accidents on farms

Attitudes to Diversity in Ireland. ESRI Research Series, March 2018

Traditionally a country of emigration, rapid immigration during the economic boom has meant that Ireland has become considerably more diverse in terms of national and ethnic origin in recent decades. Increasing diversity can challenge existing ideas about national identity and culture and may influence attitudes to immigrants and immigration. Using evidence from the European Social Survey, this study considers whether attitudes to immigration in Ireland have changed among the Irish-born population since 2002. Exploiting a special module of the European Social Survey in 2014, it investigates Irish attitudes to Muslims and Roma immigrants. The report also examines beliefs about racial and cultural superiority among Irish people, and the quality and frequency of their contact with those of a different race/ethnic group in 2014. The results for Ireland are compared with averages from ten other West European countries to set Ireland in comparative context. Drawing on theories of social identity, ethnic group competition and social contact, the report also examines how such attitudes are formed – are they influenced by factors such as social contact, attitudes to race/ethnicity, education and financial difficulties

Who experiences discrimination in Ireland? Evidence from the QNHS Equality Modules. ESRI Research Series, 2017

This report seeks to measure the experience of discrimination in Ireland and how this varies across social groups. The study is based on individuals’ own reports of discrimination in the labour market and while accessing goods or services.5 Discrimination is understood here as a situation in which individuals believe they are treated differently due to their membership of specific groups – that is, because of who they are, for example: young or old, male or female, with or without a disability. Discrimination is thus the lived experience of unequal treatment ‘on the ground’, as reported by the individuals who experience it