Local authorities play a major role in Irish life. The introduction of the management system in 1929 represented a new and innovative approach to how local authorities were run. In City and County Management in Ireland, 1929-2020, contributions by renowned academics and practitioners describe the origins and development of the management system and its role in local and national development.
The importance and potential of local government in Ireland is often understated. Local government plays a vital, even if undervalued, role in Ireland’s system of government. Members of the public – the citizens served by local government – often remain unaware of its impact on their daily lives until vital services such as roads are negatively affected by severe weather conditions or a controversial planning decision is made.
By the late 1950s Ireland had suffered three economic crises in as many decades, falling significantly behind the living standards of neighbouring countries. Yet at the turn of the millennium it had reached virtual parity. This was all the more remarkable given the economic turbulence of the 1970s and the deep recession which lasted most of the 1980s.
In a new book from the IPA entitled Achieving Impact in Public Service – Essays in honour of Sylda Langford, Dermot McCarthy, in his chapter, tells us “It is self-evident that conflicting policy goals and inconsistent implementation procedures frustrate the achievement of the public good which state institutions exist to promote”.
First published 1978. Since the foundation of the state, the Department of Finance has played a central role in Irish public affairs. For this reason its history is of major significance to all those interested in the evolution of Irish government and the Irish economy.
Do you need to know who’s who in government and business life in Ireland? Do you want to have at your fingertips the name of the human resources director of Diageo? Or the CFO of Smurfit Kappa? Or the secretary general of the Department of Justice? Or any leading business person in this country? The IPA’s Ireland – A Directory provides all of that and more.
Social care work is a relatively young profession. It is now in a transformative phase of development with formal recognition of third-level courses; statutory registration for workers with CORU, the Health and Social Care Professionals Council; and legal protection of the title ‘social care work’.
As Ireland emerges from a decade of recession and housing collapse, what sort of social housing policy is required? This book looks at the options available to the state as it seeks to devise a social housing policy capable of meeting the needs of a dynamic economy with a rapidly growing population.
This book offers a detailed analysis of the personalities, issues, campaigns and strategies of the Civil, Public and Services Union in its fight to organise and mobilise the lowest grades in the civil service.
Good housing policy is good social policy. Indeed, what is little appreciated is that good housing policy is good transport policy, good health policy, good fiscal policy, good planning policy, good gender policy, and so on. The list is almost endless.