Income-Related Subsidies for Universal Health Insurance Premia: Exploring Alternatives Using the SWITCH Model. ESRI WP516. November 2015

The Programme for Government indicated that under a Universal Health Insurance system, the State would “pay insurance premia for people on low incomes and subsidise premia for people on middle incomes”. This paper examines issues in the design of such a subsidy scheme, in the context of overall premium costs as estimated by Wren et al. (2015) and the KPMG (2015) study for the Health Insurance Authority. Subsidy design could involve a step-level system, similar to the medical card and GP visit card in the current system; or a smooth, tapered withdrawal of the subsidy, similar to what obtains for many cash benefits in the welfare system. The trade-offs between the income limit up to which a full subsidy would be payable, the rate of withdrawal of subsidy with respect to extra income and overall subsidy cost are explored

The Great Recession, Austerity and Inequality: Evidence from Ireland. ESRI WP499. April 2015

The advent of the Great Recession and the widespread adoption of fiscal austerity policies have heightened concern about inequality and its effects. We examine how the distribution of income in Ireland has evolved over the years 2008 to 2013, using data from the CSO’s Survey on Income and Living Conditions. Snapshots of the income distribution show that the greatest falls in income were for the bottom decile (poorest 10 per cent). Longitudinal analysis shows that these sharp falls were not due to decreasing income for those remaining in the bottom decile, but to falling income among those with somewhat higher incomes. Most of those falling into the bottom decile came from the bottom one third of the income distribution

The Effects of Climate Change on Economic Activity in Maine: Coastal York County Case Study

Climate change can have significant ramifications for Maine’s economy. If short-term projections for the next century are accurate, at minimum sea level rise will become increasingly noticeable in association with more severe and destructive coastal storms. Charles Colgan and Samuel Merrill evaluate risk estimates by presenting a case study of the projected consequences of sea level rise and coastal storm damage on the economy of the state’s most vulnerable area, York County’s coastal communities

Modelling Eligibility for Medical Cards and GP Visit Cards: Methods and Baseline Results. ESRI WP515. November 2015

The Irish healthcare system includes a complex mix of entitlements – some are universal, others age-related, and some are income-related. In this report, we concentrate on the major income-related entitlements in the current system i.e., the Medical Card and the GP Visit Card. Most medical cards are provided on an income-tested basis, and provide free access to in-patient and out-patient care in public hospitals, to GP care, and to prescription drugs. We examine how the income test for such schemes can be modelled using the detailed income and demographic information in the Survey on Income and Living Conditions. The approach taken applies the rules for income-related cards to each family in this nationally representative sample, using the information they provide on incomes and family composition. This is essential groundwork for later studies which will examine how the pattern of entitlements might change under different rules, such as those introducing age-related entitlements to GP visit cards, or changes in income limits

BUDGET PERSPECTIVES 2016, PAPER 1. Exploring Tax and Welfare Options. June 2015

Budgetary policies on income-related taxes and welfare must find a balance between providing income support to those in need and maintaining a financial incentive to work which supports high employment. This paper focuses principally on the “cash” or “first round” impact of tax and welfare policy changes across the income distribution. Incentive issues are considered in Section 5 of this paper, and in a companion paper to this conference (Savage et al., 2015)

BUDGET PERSPECTIVES 2016, PAPER 2. Making Work Pay More: Recent Initiatives. June 2015

This paper examines the financial incentives to work implicit in the Irish tax and benefit system, focusing in particular on incentives facing those who are unemployed and in receipt of Jobseeker’s Benefit or Jobseeker’s Assistance. The results, based on an analysis of current incomes, benefits and taxes, suggest that more than eight out of ten of these unemployed jobseekers would see their income increase by at least 40 per cent upon taking up employment. Fewer than 3 per cent of these individuals would, in the short-term, be financially better off not in work. The risk of facing weak financial incentives to work is higher for unemployed persons with a spouse and children, as the income support goal of the welfare system means that they tend to have higher welfare payments. However, even among that group, fewer than 1 in 15 would be financially better off not working. Our analysis shows that a recent policy initiative, the Back to Work Family Dividend, announced in Budget 2015, clearly improves the immediate financial incentives to work for this group

Eastern tropical Pacific corals monitor low latitude climate of the past 400 years

EXTRACT (SEE PDF FOR FULL ABSTRACT): We have measured coral growth band thickness and skeletal stable isotopic composition through a 371-year transect (AD 1583-1954) from a massive specimen of Pavona clavus from the Galápagos Islands. ... We observe a general cooling trend during 1860-1954, corresponding to the end of the Little Ice Age, an interval characterized by general warming at many mid-latitude sites. Variance at sunspot cycle frequencies in growth rate, stable isotopic, and trace element composition implies a direct or indirect link between the solar cycle and climate modulation in the eastern Pacific

NOTES AND CORRESPONDENCE On the Use of Slow Ascent Meter-Scale Sampling (SAMS) Radiosondes for Observing Overturning Events in the Free Atmosphere

ABSTRACT This note describes the development of a method for obtaining high vertical resolution (meter scale) measurements of basic meteorological quantities and turbulent overturns, using radiosondes with slow ascent rates. Although the method has some limitations, it can provide profiles of standard atmospheric variables from the surface to more than 20 km, with significantly improved vertical resolution. It can also help better identify regions of turbulent overturns. This correspondence presents some initial results demonstrating the occurrence of relatively small-vertical-scale overturns throughout the entire atmospheric column