Achieving value for money in public expenditure is a key issue, whatever the state of the economic cycle. Its importance is even more marked in the present situation. In order to attain this, we must have a clear idea of the objectives of particular expenditure programmes, and of the extent to...

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...

In his paper presented at the ESRI/FFS "Budget Perspectives 2008" Conference, Philip Lane (IIIS/TCD) asks "What are the implications for fiscal policy of the current deceleration in output growth?" Over 2003-2006, total government spending and total tax revenues have grown markedly faster than...

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...