ESRI Newsletter May 2022

June 01, 2022

This month the ESRI published Scoping Papers for Research on ‘The Economic and Social Opportunities from Increased Cooperation on the Shared Island’, a report outlining four planned publications for the second year of our joint research programme with the Department of the Taoiseach’s Shared Island Unit. In the first year of this programme, my colleagues looked at healthcare, education, FDI and cross-border trade. Later this year we will share our findings on childcare, renewable energy, migrant integration and productivity levels North and South. As I wrote in The Irish Times earlier this month, the Shared Island initiative informs public and political discourse on how we can share the island of Ireland and the ESRI is proud to be part of these conversations.

Last week we published Low Income Renters and Housing Supports. Over these past few years, our reports on housing have naturally attracted a lot of media, political and public attention. This time our researchers focused on the almost 300,000 households who received support for their housing costs in 2020. As the report points out, recent decades have seen a shift away from the direct support that would have come from local authorities and a move towards indirect subsidisation in the private rental sector, such as through the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP).

On Monday, we hosted the 10th ESRI/UCC Climate & Energy Policy Research Seminar. This year’s topic was Energy Security, with a strong focus on supply issues and climate action. We will host a conference on the Just Climate Transition online in the coming days. There are also webinars planned to launch reports on energy poverty and the impact of COVID-19 on young people’s mental health. Our annual Budget Perspective event returns and will be taking place in-person. You can register for these events at the links below.

Regards,