Open Journal Systems Trinity College Dublin
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A Portfolio Approach to Assessing an Auto-Enrolment Pension Scheme for Ireland
Get PDFThis paper investigates the feasibility of a national auto-enrolment pension scheme in Ireland. The design of an auto-enrolment scheme for Ireland is motivated by international experiences of autoenrolment. Using a bootstrap approach to model historical returns for 24 hypothetical portfolios over a 40-year period, we investigate the probability of achieving a target pension income. The purpose of this empirical analysis is to determine what strategies and portfolio design will best achieve a projected target income replacement ratio for a typical member of a national auto-enrolment scheme. The simulated results indicate that a contribution rate of 8 per cent should, for the median outcome, be sufficient to generate a pension income close to 65 per cent of final salary. However, the State Contributory Pension plays an important and significant buffer for retirees, especially in the unlucky outcome when asset values have fallen just before retiring
Are Perceptions of Greatness Accurate? A Statistical Analysis of Brian O’Driscoll’s Contribution to the Irish Rugby Team
Get PDFWe test whether public perceptions of Brian O’Driscoll’s greatness were accurate. O’Driscoll was an automatic selection for Ireland’s rugby team yet missed matches through injury, allowing us to treat injury as random. We estimate that O’Driscoll was worth a converted try per game and improved the chance of victory by more than home advantage. None of O’Driscoll’s Irish contemporaries made such a contribution. His impact also compares favourably with New Zealand’s best players of the era. Our estimates have implications for debates about wages in professional rugby. They also demonstrate how statistical techniques can be applied to an everyday issue, allowing us to conclude that perceptions of one Irishman’s greatness were warranted
If Opportunity Doesn’t Knock, Build a Door: Reflecting on a Bioeconomy Policy Agenda for Ireland
Get PDFThe development of the bioeconomy offers an alternative economic mode of growth whereby renewable biological resources are transformed to meet food, feed, fuel and fibre needs. Ireland however lacks a cohesive bioeconomy policy to guide this development. Drawing on a strategic analysis of the resource base in Ireland, this paper sets the scene for the development of the Irish bioeconomy. A number of case study opportunities are outlined, followed by a critical analysis of Irish bioeconomy-related policy. The analysis culminates in a bioeconomy policy illustration that highlights the number of competing interests in the bioeconomy arena, alongside the wider governance context that will influence the development of a comprehensive national bioeconomy policy
Ask for Help: An Exploration of Factors that Inhibit and Influence the Health- and Help-Seeking Behaviour (HSB) of Post-Natal Women Experiencing Morbidities.
Get PDFMorbidities affecting women in the post-natal period, alongside their health help-seeking behaviour, has been explored by national and international studies. This literature review focuses on exploring the factors that inhibit and support health and help-seeking behaviour of postnatal women experiencing two of the six most common morbidities, postpartum depression and intimate partner violence
Bone Remodelling in Space: A Review
Get PDFAlzheimer’s disease is the most common neurodegenerative disease in the world. Despite years of intense research, its pathogenesis remains quite controversial. Many different explanations have been proposed to describe its onset, the most established of which is the β-amyloid hypothesis. This hypothesis proposes that the disease is primarily caused by the formation of β-amyloid plaques in the brain. The presence of these plaques, it is suggested, ultimately leads to neuroinflammation, tau aggregation and, eventually, neuronal death and the often-cited neurocognitive sequelae observed in Alzheimer’s patients. However, recent evidence suggests neuroinflammation may in fact be a root cause of the disease as opposed to acting as an eventual or coincidental manifestation. More specifically, it has been found that the activation of inflammasomes in microglia (the brains immune cells) contributes to the production of proinflammatory cytokines which then potentiates the neuroinflammatory response, with other downstream affects including increased β-amyloid plaque build-up, tau aggregation and a loss in cognitive function. Therefore, more and more studies are suggesting that neuroinflammation - and particularly the inflammasome - could be targeted therapeutically to prevent and treat Alzheimer’s disease in patients
Valuing Informal Care in Ireland: Beyond the Traditional Production Boundary
Get PDFMeasures of economic output captured by traditional national account metrics emphasise the importance of paid work over unpaid work which can lead to inefficient policy decision making. We utilise Irish census data to measure the economic value of informal care in Ireland. Our results reveal the considerable value of informal care in Ireland ranging between €2.1 and €5.5 billion, depending on valuation approach. They also show a gendered distribution of informal care activities and the consequences of transposing market-based gender compensation asymmetries directly onto non-market activity. We discuss evidence of best practice in long-term care policy across Europe, which involves a combination of income supports for informal carers and substantial investment in formal home care provision. We also discuss apparent incongruences in current Government policy, which appears to prioritise a formal residential care model over more community-based care models, contradicting previously stated policy objectives and best practice in Europe
Refugee aid is not supererogatory: A cosmopolitan Rawlsian framework for thinking about human rights, health and our obligations to refugees
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Does the Month of Birth Affect Educational and Health Outcomes? A Population-Based Analysis Using the Northern Ireland Longitudinal Study
Get PDFStudies in the US, the UK and Europe found children born close to the cut-off date for the start of school year face disadvantage in terms of educational attainment. This is attributed to the fact that pupils born shortly before the cut-off date are almost a year younger than many of their classmates. They are in an earlier stage of their intellectual, emotional and physical development and are thus relatively disadvantaged. Differences in growth and health outcomes by birth month have been found in other studies. This paper tests whether long-term educational and health disadvantages of individuals born just before the start of school year cut-off date of July 1st exist in Northern Ireland. The analysis is based on a c.28 per cent representative population sub-sample of young people aged 12-18 in 2001 in the Northern Ireland Longitudinal Study (NILS) with linked 2001 and 2011 Census records. Findings indicate no educational or health disadvantages over a decade for individuals born in May and June