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Ireland’s Post-Crisis Recovery, 2012-2019: Was It Pro-Poor?
Get PDFThis paper examines anonymous and non-anonymous Growth Incidence Curves (GICs) for after-tax disposable income for Ireland during its recovery period after the Great Recession, 2012-2019. In the absence of suitable panel data, the non-anonymous GICs were constructed on a cohort basis with cohorts formed on the basis of gender, highest level of education attained and the year of that attainment. Both types of GICs are broadly downward sloping over the period indicating that growth was pro-poor on average. Older and less well-educated cohorts fared relatively better over the recovery period, with the corollary that younger, more highly educated cohorts fared relatively less well. Virtually every cohort experienced positive growth however
Some Missing Links in Ireland’s Initial National Well-Being Framework
No full textIreland’s first national well-being framework was announced in late 2021. This study offers a systematic review concerning two key missing links whose omission weakens the framework’s coherence. The first is the lack of clarity surrounding the concept of sustainable development leading to potential confusion between the trade-offs surrounding well-being today and sustained well-being into the future. The second is a lack of regional integration that threatens to distort policy choices regarding regional development. Considerations for the future development of the national well-being framework are presented through an amended dashboard, a suite of suggested indicators at a more disaggregated regional level that intersects relevant well-being themes and a practical policy application of an amended framework to the monitoring of the goals of the National Planning Framework
Bacteriophage Therapy for Treating Infections: Hope or Hype?
Get PDFBacteriophage therapy employs the use of viruses to kill bacteria and has been noted to confer reversal of antimicrobial resistance. It was proposed around the same time as antibiotic therapy for combatting infections but lost the race for becoming the mainstay therapy. However, antibiotic resistance is increasingly resulting in morbidity and mortality. Bacteriophage therapy as an alternative approach for combatting infections has garnered speculation and interest of many scientists with hopes that it may become a management strategy for multi-drug resistant infections. The aim of this review is to shed light on the developments in bacteriophage therapy, explain lytic cycles as the proposed functional mechanism and discuss the evidence base: preclinical, case-based and clinical trials. There is preliminary evidence that alludes to an element of safety and efficacy in treating multidrug resistant infections. However, there is a paucity of high-quality evidence, which could bring this therapy into routine practice. This is further burdened by limitations such as the need for an individualised approach and our lack of understanding of the immune reactions to it. This therapy is quite promising, but much work is needed before it can be considered for routine clinical practice
In Patients Admitted to ICU with SARS-CoV-2 Infection, is Dexamethasone Superior to Standard Care in Improving Mortality? A Systematic Review of Evidence to Date
Get PDFIntroduction: Dexamethasone is a potent broad-spectrum corticosteroid that decreases the transcription of pro-inflammatory cytokines, whilst simultaneously increasing the transcription of anti-inflammatory cytokines. The cytokine storm that is central to the pathogenesis of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and multi-organ failure is seen in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) related deaths. The objective of the study was to systematically review the use of dexamethasone for COVID-19 in adult ICU patients and to ascertain if there was a survival benefit compared to standard care (SC) alone.Methods: A literature search of two databases, EMBASE and PubMed, was conducted using the terms “COVID-19”, “Dexamethasone”, and “ICU”. The search was limited to studies published in the English language. The PRISMA guidelines were used to guide our search methodology.Results: The database search identified 59 articles. Of these, two duplicates were discarded, and 57 studies were screened. 54 of these publications were deemed irrelevant based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Three were forwarded for full text review and met inclusion and exclusion criteria on full-text review. All three were deemed eligible. The selected studies consisted of two randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and one case series report. The results from the three papers were unanimous in their conclusion that dexamethasone was superior to SC in the treatment of patients admitted to ICU with SARS-CoV-2. There was also a shorter duration of hospitalisation seen in the patient group treated with dexamethasone.Conclusion: Our systematic review found that dexamethasone was superior to SC in patients admitted to the ICU with SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, administration of dexamethasone to patients not on respiratory support resulted in a higher incidence of death, compared to SC
A policy review of Strategy 2022 – 2025, Culture Ireland
Get PDFCulture Ireland is the government agency which supports the promotion of Irish arts worldwide. The aim of this policy review is primarily to identify key concepts in the recently launched revision of Culture Ireland’s strategy (Strategy 2022-2025) and to place them in the wider context of the role of arts and culture in Ireland. In particular, it highlights the implicit and explicit framing of arts policy as a way of operationalising Ireland’s culture on the global stage as a form of soft power
Universal Primary Care in Ireland: Cost and Workforce Implications
Get PDFGovernment policy in Ireland has identified the introduction of a universal primary healthcare system as a priority. This study examined the potential expenditure and workforce implications of introducing universal GP and community-based nurse care in 2018. The analysis estimated that providing universal entitlement to GP and community-based nurse services in 2018 would increase total healthcare expenditure by between 1.1 per cent and 1.4 per cent. An estimated additional 521 GPs and 1,500 community-based nurses would be required to meet the additional demand associated with a universal system and to address existing unmet needs
Free State to Tax State: A Century of Taxation in Ireland
Get PDFOver the last century, there has been a dramatic change in both the composition and the structure of the Irish tax system. In this paper, we construct a new dataset of tax rates and tax bands for the main tax headings in Ireland, from 1920-2019. We document these changes and trends in tax policy in the aggregate and using the main tax headings. One striking regularity, however, is that Irish tax policy has been persistently procyclical. While tax revenues are naturally expected to vary with the cycle, we show that changes in tax rates have been conducted procyclically. Most notably, we find strong evidence that governments have tended to adjust the rates of income tax in a procyclical manner over the past century. Using an additional tax policy changes dataset, we show that discretionary tax measures – which incorporate all tax policy instruments (rates, bands, credits, exemptions, etc.) – have been largely procyclical over the period 1987-2019. These findings are in contrast with other developed countries, where tax policy has tended to be acyclical
Resilience in Student Research
Get PDFSince early 2020, the world witnessed SARS-CoV-2—the COVID-19 virus—taking away the lives of their loved ones and stopping many large in-person gatherings such as going to the cinemas, conferences, and in-person lectures. Research done by students was also one of the activities that was inevitably affected by the pandemic. Many aspiring student researchers faced a halt to their exciting scientific investigations for the remaining academic year and their upcoming summer break unless they were essential or related to COVID-19. Various organised studentships and research programmes had to be cancelled too. This is largely because this research requires physical presence in a laboratory or physical interaction with patients. However, this did not bring student researchers down—their resilience shined through. In the past year, students around the world managed to make the most out of lockdowns and restrictions by carrying out research in the most accessible way they could, as demonstrated by the contents of this 21st volume of the TSMJ
Prominent careers and Irish screen policy
Get PDFDrawing on recent empirical research, we examine career construction among prominent Irish film and television drama workers. Our emphasis is on gender; state patronage; the role of networks; and the necessity to supplement incomes, all of which are observed to impact on building and maintaining screen industry careers. We locate our research within international studies of careers in the screen industries and locally within Irish studies, where the research emphasis has been on gender, notably female, equality. By identifying the key stages in career construction in the screen industries, we suggest how future policy interventions might be staged so as to intervene earlier in the career cycle. We draw on Clive Nwonka’s (2021) distinction between empowering interventions and transformative policies to distinguish between proposals that generally improve the career opportunities of those currently underrepresented in the screen industries and those that specifically implement policies around hiring
A policy review of The Art of Recovery - Survive: Stabilise: Strengthen. The Report of the Culture, Arts and Heritage Recovery Taskforce, Northern Ireland Executive. August 2021
Get PDFThis is a review of The Art of Recovery - Survive: Stabilise: Strengthen. The Report of the Culture, Arts and Heritage Recovery Taskforce. It focuses on a report published by the Department for Communities (DfC) in the Northern Ireland Executive and the recently established Culture, Arts and Heritage Recovery Taskforce. This paper employs a narrative policy analysis methodology to trace the different and often competing stories which underpin the report