Deepening democracy within Ireland's social partnership

Ireland's social partnership process, now under attack from a number of quarters, has repeatedly been charged with being 'undemocratic' in that it undermines the sovereign position of elected political representatives, with key policy formulation and decision-making taking place in fora outside the institutions of representative democracy. These critiques echo those against new forms of networked governance more globally. A key question therefore is how (and if) democracy may be deepened within social partnership or its potential successor(s). This article addresses this question by employing a post-liberal democratic framework to examine social partnership in practice, and by drawing lessons from another partnership process, Malawi's PRSP. Drawing from Malawi's experience, it is argued that democracy can be deepened within social partnership when governance deliberations and negotiations are conducted under conditions of vibrant public debate and genuine perspective-based representation, and when the communicative and discursive norms are widened to allow for such representation

"I won't be staying here for long": a qualitative study on the retention of migrant nurses in Ireland

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Although international nurse recruitment campaigns have succeeded in attracting large numbers of migrant nurses to countries such as Ireland, where domestic supply has not kept pace with demand, the long-term success of such initiatives from a workforce planning perspective will depend on the extent to which these nurses can be retained in destination countries.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This paper draws on qualitative, in-depth interviews undertaken with 21 migrant nurses in Ireland, focusing specifically on their future migration intentions.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Our findings indicate that more than half of the respondents are considering migration onwards, for the most part because the destination country has failed to provide them with sufficient stability, particularly in terms of citizenship and family reunification. In considering onward migration, factors outside the health system were of most concern to those interviewed.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This demonstrates the need for destination countries to take a broader and more long-term approach to international nurse recruitment, rather than regarding it as an inexpensive way to fill gaps within the health care system.</p

Discipline, debt and coercive commodification:Post-crisis neoliberalism and the welfare state in Ireland, the UK and the USA

Ireland, the UK and the USA are heterogeneous examples of liberal worlds of welfare capitalism yet all three countries were deeply implicated in the 2008 global financial crisis. Examining these three countries together provides the opportunity to further develop an international comparative political economy of instability in the context of the globalised and financialised dimensions of Anglo-liberal capitalism and disciplinary governance. Our analysis is guided by the concept of disciplinary neoliberalism (Gill, 1995) through which we explore: (i) the dynamics that have shaped the impacts of and responses to the Great Recession; (ii) the ways in which state-market relations, shaped by differentiated accommodations to market imperative or market discipline, have been used as disciplinary tools and how these have interacted with existing social divisions and iii) the implications for shaping conditions for resistance. We suggest that the neoliberal pathways of each country, whilst not uniform, mark a ‘step-change’ and acceleration in the operation of disciplinary neoliberalism, and is particularly evident in what we identify as the coercive commodification of social policy

PUBLISHED BY THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES CENTER Jar Testing Summary

Jar testing is a pilot-scale test of the treatment chemicals used in a particular water plant.It simulates the coagulation/flocculation process in a water treatment plant and helps operators determine if they are using the right amount of treatment chemicals, and, thus, improves the plant’s performance. What is jar testing? Jar testing is a method of simulating a fullscale water treatment process, providing system operators a reasonable idea of the way a treatment chemical will behave and operate with a particular type of raw water. Because it mimics full-scale operation, system operators can use jar testing to help determine which treatment chemical will work best with their system’s raw water. Jar testing entails adjusting the amount of treatmen

PUBLISHED BY THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES CENTER Tech Brief: Taste and Odor Control

Complaints about the taste and smell of drinking water are all too common for many systems. This Tech Brief examines common taste and odor problems and provides techniques for dealing with them in the treatment plant. My Water Tastes Funny Experienced water system personnel are well aware that most customer complaints are related to taste and odor problems. In fact, one reason that bottled water is popular with people is that taste and odor are less noticeable in the bottled water, or at least that’s the perception. By employing certain treatment techniques, plant operators may be able to reduce customer taste and odor complaints. Here are some typical complaints

PUBLISHED BY THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES CENTER Sanitary Surveys Summary

A sanitary survey is an inspection of the entire water system, including the water source, facilities, equipment, operation, and maintenance. Usually conducted by a member of the state primacy agency, the purpose of these mandatory surveys is to help prevent and correct water system deficiencies. What is a sanitary survey? The U.S Environmental Protection Agency, in the Interim Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule (IESWTR), defines a sanitary survey as “an onsite review of the water source, facilities, equipment, operation, and maintenance of the public water system for the purpose of evaluating the adequacy of such source, facilities, equipment, operation, and maintenance for producing and distributing safe drinking water. ” They are performed by the state primacy agency (e.g., bureau of public health, department of environmental protection) and are required of all surface water systems and groundwater systems under the direct influence of surface water. These surveys are typically divided into eight main sections, although some state primacy groups may have more

Large-scale data sharing in the life sciences: data standards, incentives, barriers and funding models (The Joint Data Standards Study)

This study was conducted by a consortium consisting of the Digital Archiving Consultancy Limited (DAC), the Bioinformatics Research Centre at the University of Glasgow (BRC), and the National e-Science Centre at Glasgow (NeSC). Key informant interviews and case study visits were conducted by Alison Macdonald, Philip Lord (DAC), Dr Denise Ecklund (NeSC), Dr Richard Sinnott (BRC, NeSC) and Andy Jones (BRC). Dr Martin Westhead (NeSC) conducted key informant interviews and research in the USA as well as UK. Professor David Gilbert of the BRC provided advice and guidance. All contributed to desk research and content; final production was done by the DAC. The consortium was led by the DAC.© 2005 Medical Research Council. Reproduced with kind permission from the Medical Research Council