Opening Address Brendan Whelan In Search of an Appropriate European Fiscal Framework Catherine Mathieu and Henri Sterdyniak Relative Income Poverty: Learning from the Best-Performing Countries Tim Callan and Brian Nolan Ireland's Health Care System: Some Issues and Challenges Anne Nolan and...

Opening Address - Brendan Whelan Assessing Ireland's Fiscal Strategy: Recent Experiments and Future Plans Philip Lane of Trinity College Dublin presents a paper reviewing a number of innovations which have been made by the Minister for Finance in the last four or five years. He considers the...

This paper sets out the basic framework and results on the responsiveness of married men and married women to changes in their gross wages. The framework for exploring the impact of a tax change on labour supply is briefly described. The impacts of alternative forms of tax cut are examined. The...

Nolan and Callan examine why relative income poverty rates in Ireland have remained high compared with many other EU countries. They begin by presenting the basic facts of the situation and look at a variety of possible explanations for the observed patterns. They conclude that differences in...

Inequalities in educational outcomes over time are described. Patterns of educational expenditure are outlined, highlighting differences between and within the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors. Recent policy developments are explored which involve targeting spending on "disadvantaged"...

This presentation, by Anne Nolan and Brian Nolan, examines three key aspects of Irelands health care system. It begins by taking an overall view and benchmarks the Irish system against that in 21 other countries. In general they characterise the performance of the health care system as...