This 2nd edition of a highly respected textbook offers a comprehensive introduction to Irish social policy. It provides an accessible, critical overview taking account of significant changes over recent years. The book is organised across four key sections: 1: Traces the emergence and development of Irish social policy from its origins to the present 2: Situates the Irish case in the wider context of the politics, ideology and socio-economic factors relevant to the development and reform of welfare states 3: Analyses core social service areas with specific reference to the contemporary Irish context 4: Explores how social policy affects particular groups in Irish society including children, older people, people with disabilities, carers, new immigrant and minority ethnic groups, and LGBT people. Discusses the challenges posed by environmental issues and the importance of a social policy perspective Text boxes used throughout provide policy summaries, definitions of key concepts, along with guides for further reading and discussion. This is a valuable resource for undergraduate and postgraduate students studying Irish social policy and allied subjects.

This completely updated edition of 'Contemporary Irish Social Policy' gives an overview of the historical development of each policy area and discusses current and future issues in the field.

The focus in this text is on the historical development of Irish social policy, with a discussion of major influences - such as the European Union - on policy formation.

This publication covers all major aspects of social policy in relation to disability in contemporary Ireland. New approaches to policy making, influenced by concepts of rights, partnership and integration, have led to major changes in service provision and legislation affecting people with disabilities. These developments are fully discussed in chapters on education and employment policies, health services, social security, access and independent living, gender, ethnicity, poverty, ageing, the mixed economy of welfare and disability, the emerging rights perspective for disabled people, and the legislation underpinning service provision. The effect of European legislation is fully covered, and comparisons are made with provision in other countries and in Northern Ireland.

Now in its fifth edition, 'Irish Social Services' provides an up-to-date guide to the evolution, nature and scope of, and the the issues associated with, the key social services in Ireland - social welfare, housing, education, and health.

From anti-terrorism agendas, to the punishment of the poor and the governance of parenting, this book explores how diverse fields of social policy intersect more deeply than ever with crime control and in so doing, deploy troubling strategies.

This book explores the factors which have shaped the Irish welfare state, through a case study of social security development between 1939 and 1952. At the heart of contemporary debates about the influences shaping welfare state outcomes lie the concepts of industrialisation, modernisation, religion, and patterns of state-formation. The Irish case provides a unique insight into these debates. Ireland is a European welfare state, but one in which colonial legacies are paramount. It is a modern, but late-industrialising nation, and for much of the modern period, Catholicism has been unusually influential. The book looks at how these idiosyncratic Irish experiences shaped a distinctive welfare state, and considers what this tells us about contemporary theoretical perspectives on social policy. This account of the behind the scenes battles over social security, tells us a great deal about how the welfare state in Ireland took the shape it did, and in the process, raises questions about well-established accounts of the role of the Church, political parties, and interest groups in shaping distributive outcomes which would persist for many decades.