AdministrationPub Date : 2024-08-14DOI: 10.2478/admin-2024-0015
Áine de Róiste, Majella Mulkeen, Susan Flynn, Sandra Conroy
{"title":"Social care work and social work in Ireland: a comparative analysis of standards of proficiency","authors":"Áine de Róiste, Majella Mulkeen, Susan Flynn, Sandra Conroy","doi":"10.2478/admin-2024-0015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/admin-2024-0015","url":null,"abstract":"This article provides a timely intervention to debates and scholarship about the professional regulation of social work and social care. In Ireland, the recent commencement of the statutory regulation of social care by CORU – Ireland’s multi-professional health regulator – offers a watershed opportunity for learning. Social work has been separately regulated by CORU for over a decade, while the social care work register opened in November 2023. We conduct a comparative content analysis of the standards of proficiency for social work and for social care work. Albeit with different historical origins, regulation has now provided these professions with distinctive, as well as shared professional ‘benchmarks’, that may shape the trajectories of their future roles and training. We consider the approach CORU takes to regulation, in terms of the standards and how these differentiate or align the two professions. The novel contribution of the paper lies in its key findings. Namely, that: the format of the standards of proficiency framework itself warrants further consideration; insufficient attention is paid to empathy and emotions across standards; there is an absence of a considered approach to the influence of socio-economic factors on practice; there are variations in the emphasis placed on relational versus socio-political dimensions in practice; and finally, there are differences in the importance paid to ‘critical understanding’ across the standards. These areas particularly illuminate how CORU frames and interprets the nature of both professions. It is concluded that the standards of proficiency for both social care work and social work have much shared terrain, interspersed with infrequent but striking differences, indicative of the many commonalities and overlap in occupational spheres for both professions.","PeriodicalId":41890,"journal":{"name":"Administration","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2024-08-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142185747","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
AdministrationPub Date : 2024-08-14DOI: 10.2478/admin-2024-0016
Stephen Moore, John Considine
{"title":"‘Shall I compare thee?’ Evaluating Finance Ministers","authors":"Stephen Moore, John Considine","doi":"10.2478/admin-2024-0016","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/admin-2024-0016","url":null,"abstract":"Over the past century, the methods used to evaluate Finance Ministers have evolved from the close scrutiny of individual biographies to the statistical analysis of aggregated data. This paper explores this evolution within the framework of economic theory and applies the results in an Irish context. It concludes that while statistical methods can provide some support for certain hypotheses, they are not yet advanced enough to entirely replace the traditional political economy approach.","PeriodicalId":41890,"journal":{"name":"Administration","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2024-08-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142185748","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
AdministrationPub Date : 2024-05-11DOI: 10.2478/admin-2024-0009
John Hogan
{"title":"Regulating more? Comparing Ireland’s original and amended lobbying legislation","authors":"John Hogan","doi":"10.2478/admin-2024-0009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/admin-2024-0009","url":null,"abstract":"This paper compares the amendments introduced by the Regulation of Lobbying and Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) (Amendment) Act 2023 with the original regulations of the Regulation of Lobbying Act 2015. The study was conducted using the Hired Guns Method for assessing the robustness of lobbying legislation, developed by the Centre for Public Integrity (CPI), allowing findings to be compared with lobbying regulations internationally. The 2015 legislation was introduced after years of tribunals, scandals, unfulfilled political promises, and economic crisis, in an effort to increase the public’s trust in politicians, representative institutions, democracy and the wider bureaucracy. The 2023 Amendment came in the wake of a 2020 lobbying scandal. The paper finds that, despite the CPI score remaining unchanged, in-depth examination of the legislation showed that the amendment introduced more rules and sanctions, particularly in relation to designated public officials, and closed off outstanding legislative loopholes.","PeriodicalId":41890,"journal":{"name":"Administration","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2024-05-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140936331","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
AdministrationPub Date : 2024-05-11DOI: 10.2478/admin-2024-0011
Audrey Moore, Kevin Lalor
{"title":"Social care managers’ perspectives on statutory registration of social care workers in Ireland","authors":"Audrey Moore, Kevin Lalor","doi":"10.2478/admin-2024-0011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/admin-2024-0011","url":null,"abstract":"The focus of this paper is social care managers’ views on the impact of the statutory registration of social care workers in Ireland. The findings suggest that registration is welcomed by social care managers who believe that it will impact positively on societal recognition of social care workers as professionals and that it will improve accountability within the sector. However, the findings also suggest that there is confusion regarding information about registration and issues remain in the sector regarding multiplicity of titles, roles, and duties of social care workers. We conclude that the opening of the register is only a further step towards the professionalisation of social care in Ireland and that more action is needed to address inconsistencies within the field of work.","PeriodicalId":41890,"journal":{"name":"Administration","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2024-05-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140936382","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
AdministrationPub Date : 2024-05-11DOI: 10.2478/admin-2024-0010
Elaine Desmond, Siobhan O’Sullivan
{"title":"Housing and the West Cork islands: a national crisis in microcosm","authors":"Elaine Desmond, Siobhan O’Sullivan","doi":"10.2478/admin-2024-0010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/admin-2024-0010","url":null,"abstract":"This article explores the first academic study on the housing crisis on Ireland’s offshore islands through a case study of the experiences and views of islanders on the West Cork islands. The paper covers the risk which the current housing crisis in Ireland represents for the ability of the West Cork islands, already susceptible to depopulation, to retain the next generation of existing inhabitants and attract newcomers. Through a participatory research project conducted between October 2021 and November 2022, the article reveals the challenges facing the West Cork islands in terms of housing affordability, availability and quality, and how these impact on the sustainability of island living. It also documents innovative policies and initiatives that islanders would like policymakers to implement to ensure the housing crisis is addressed and full-time populations on the islands are secured and sustained. The article concludes by reflecting on the recent <jats:italic>National Islands Policy 2023–2033</jats:italic> in light of the current study.","PeriodicalId":41890,"journal":{"name":"Administration","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2024-05-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140936387","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
AdministrationPub Date : 2024-05-01DOI: 10.2478/admin-2024-0013
Fergal O’Leary
{"title":"125 years of local democracy in Ireland","authors":"Fergal O’Leary","doi":"10.2478/admin-2024-0013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/admin-2024-0013","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":41890,"journal":{"name":"Administration","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2024-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141050348","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
AdministrationPub Date : 2024-05-01DOI: 10.2478/admin-2024-0012
Fergal Lynch
{"title":"The early years sector: a case study in policy development and investment","authors":"Fergal Lynch","doi":"10.2478/admin-2024-0012","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/admin-2024-0012","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":41890,"journal":{"name":"Administration","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2024-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141051338","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}