While the key statistics of Household Disposable Income and Regional GVA are the focus of much of the analysis of the CSO County Incomes and Regional GDP[1] it is interesting to look at Primary Incomes and in particular the relationship between Primary Income and Household Disposable Income. Irish Counties’ Primary Income Primary income is made […]
A background paper on ‘Regional and Rural Development – Economic recovery for the whole country’ was prepared for a breakout session at last week’s National Economic Dialogue (16-17 July, Dublin Castle). It set out a few key questions: What can be done to ensure that the benefits of recovery are fairly distributed throughout the country […]
The Annual Employment Survey for 2014 (PDF 0.25Mb) (formerly the Forfás Annual Employment Survey) was published a few weeks ago by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. This data counts agency assisted employment (jobs in companies which have received assistance from Enterprise Ireland, IDA or Udarás na Gaeltachta) and covers the 10 year period […]
As the Department for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources in Ireland prepares the National Broadband Plan Intervention Strategy, it is useful to consider some lessons which can be learned from elsewhere. The experience of Australia is instructive, in part illustrating some of the pitfalls. Ambitious targets with ambitious deadlines In 2009 the Australian Government announced […]
In previous posts we’ve looked at the Western Region’s Labour Market and its Sectoral Profile, but how do these patterns differ by gender? Is the current jobs recovery impacting on men and women differently? While jobs growth is underway in the country as a whole, as well as in the Western Region (though at a […]
On the 11th May, WDC attended the official launch, by An Taoiseach Enda Kenny T.D. and Ministers for Communications and Rural Affairs, of eircom’s Fibre To The Home (FTTH) rural broadband trial in Belcarra, County Mayo. This trial offers broadband speeds of up to 1Gb/s (1,000Mb/s) to rural residents and businesses and demonstrates the value […]
How is life in the Border, Midland and West Region? How does it compare with that in other similar regions in Europe and elsewhere? A new tool can help answer these questions. The OECD has been working on a tool for measuring regional well-being using indicators that take account of more than economics and material […]
It is clear that some regions in Ireland are growing much more than others (see Regions and Recovery post), with some even showing ‘growth strains’ (Dublin Economic Monitor, Issue 1, Spring 2015, p.4 ). It is also evident that while national economic growth is the main policy objective, policy on where this growth should occur is less clear. […]
We’ve just published WDC Insights-The Western Region’s Sectoral Profile-April 2015 (PDF 0.2MB) which presents the key findings from The Western Region’s Labour Market 2004-2014-WDC Report March 2015 (PDF 2.5MB) on the region’s sectoral pattern of employment. Understanding the sectoral pattern of jobs in the region, and recent patterns of sectoral growth and decline, is particularly important to […]
The WDC was invited to present to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise & Innovation on its work in developing the Creative Economy. On Tuesday 21 April, the WDC as well as NUI Galway, Teagasc, the Design & Crafts Council of Ireland and TG4 presented on the potential for job creation, innovation and balanced […]
