Removal of Working Paper "The Costs of Working in Ireland"

13/06/2012

Removal of Working Paper “The Costs of Working in Ireland”

The Working Paper entitled “The Costs of Working in Ireland” was removed from the ESRI website yesterday because senior ESRI researchers, who are experts in this area, concluded that the analysis it contains is seriously flawed. This was the sole reason for withdrawing the Working Paper. Any suggestion that the paper was withdrawn because of pressure, of any sort, from government, or any other source, is entirely unfounded. Professor Richard Tol, now at the University of Sussex, is the senior author of the Working Paper. We are aware that Professor Tol is now in possession of a revised draft of the paper which indicates that the percentage of people with children who would be better off on social welfare than working is not 44 percent but less than 10 percent. Professor Tol did not follow ESRI procedures when submitting the Working Paper, which is how it came to be posted on the website. In the light of this episode, procedures for the release of working papers on the ESRI website will be revised to ensure that a similar situation does not arise in the future. Ends ESRI Press Office, 353 1 8632000; press@esri.ie.
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