Abstract
Between 1969 and 1989, the property-based welfare system initially destabilised and subsequently collapsed and was largely dismantled during a period of wider public spending retrenchment. The first of these developments was halting, uneven and protracted – it was spread across the 1970s and early 1980s – the second was short and sharp and concentrated on the final three of the years under review here. This chapter describes how the destabilisation of the property-based welfare system first became evident during the 1970s, as escalating costs particularly of homeownership supports and social housing provision became increasingly difficult for government to bear in the context of the increasing challenging world economic context and strengthening competing claims on state investment associated with the expansion of “mainstream” welfare services such as education, health and social security. By the end of the 1970s the economic and fiscal crisis became more acute. Initially this crisis generated a period of policy instability, but by the mid-1980s an unambiguous and radical policy redirection emerged and between 1986 and 1989 the property-based welfare system, which had been slowly and incrementally constructed over the course of the preceding century, was largely abolished. This chapter describes the dismantling of the property-based welfare state, the period of policy instability which preceded it and the power, legitimacy and efficiency drivers which shaped these developments.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Baker, T. & O’Brien, L. (1979). The Irish housing system: A critical overview. Dublin: ESRI.
Blackwell, J. (1988). A review of housing policy. Dublin: National Economic and Social Housing.
Carey, E. (1974). Building societies in Ireland. Dublin: Stationery Office.
Central Statistics Office (various years). Census of population of Ireland. Dublin: Stationery Office.
Commins, P. (1982). Land policies and agricultural development. In P. J. Drudy (Ed.), Ireland: Land, politics and people (pp. 127–140). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Crotty, R. (1966). Irish agricultural production: Its volume and structure. Cork: Cork University Press.
Daly, M. (1997). The buffer state: The historical origins of the department of the environment. Dublin: Institute of Public Administration.
Daly, M. (2002). The first department: A history of the department of agriculture. Dublin: Institute of Public Administration.
Department of Agriculture (1980). Land policy. Dublin: Stationery Office.
Department of Local Government (various years). Report/Tuarascáil. Dublin: Department of Local Government.
Department of Local Government, (1969). Housing in the seventies. Dublin: Department of Local Government.
Department of the Environment (1986). Financing of housing in Ireland – 1985. Dublin: Department of the Environment.
Department of the Environment (1991). A plan for social housing. Dublin: Department of the Environment.
Department of the Environment (various years). Report/Tuarascáil. Dublin: Department of the Environment.
Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (various years). Annual housing statistics bulletin. Dublin: Department of the Environment.
Dooley, T. (2004). The land for the people: The land question in independent Ireland. Dublin: UCD Press.
Fahey, T. (2002), The family economy in the development of welfare regimes: A case study. European Sociological Review, 18(1), 51–64.
Fahey, T. and Nixon, E. (2014). Family policy in Ireland. In M. Robilia (Ed.), Handbook of family policies across the globe (pp. 125–136). New York: Springer.
Garvin, T. (1982) Change and the political system. In F. Litton (Ed.), Unequal achievement: The Irish experience 1957–1982 (pp. 21–40). Dublin: Institute of Public Administration.
Government of Ireland (1984). Building on reality: 1985–1987. Dublin: Stationery Office.
Government of Ireland (1987). The programme for national recovery. Dublin: Stationery Office.
Honohan, P. (1992). Fiscal adjustment in Ireland in the 1980s. Economic and Social Review, 23(3), 258–314.
Inter-Department Committee on Land Structure Reform (1978). Final report. Dublin: Stationery Office.
Irish Times (1981, October 1). Noonan calls for new tax incentive deal for renewal schemes. Irish Times, p. 20.
Irish Times (1981, November 24). Jobs crisis in the building industry”. Irish Times, p. 12.
Irish Times (1984, January 26). Builders criticise lack of incentive. Irish Times, p. 13.
Irish Times (1984, July 16,), Boost for building urged to create jobs. Irish Times, p. 8.
Irish Times (1985, January 25) Pre-Budget appeal on tax incentives made by auctioneer. Irish Times, p. 20.
Kelly, J., & Everett, M. (2004), Financial liberalisation and economic growth in Ireland. Central Bank Quarterly Bulletin, 04(03), 91–112.
Kennedy, K., Giblin, T., & McHugh, D. (1988). The economic development of Ireland in the twentieth century. London: Routledge.
Lee, J. (1989). Ireland, 1912–1985: Politics and society. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
MacSharry, R., & White, P. (2000). The making of the Celtic Tiger: The inside story of Ireland’s boom economy. Cork: Mercier Press.
Maguire, D. (1976). The land commission. Dublin: Irish Farmers’ Journal.
Maguire, D. (1983). The land problem. Dublin: Agri-books.
Malpass, P. (2011). Path dependence and the measurement of change in housing policy. Housing, Theory and Society, 28(4), 305–319.
Mathews, A. (1982). The state and Irish agriculture, 1950–1980 In P.J. Drudy (Ed.), Ireland: Land, politics and people (pp. 241–270). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
McLoughlin, E., & Rodgers, P. (1997). Single mothers in the Republic of Ireland: Mothers not workers. In S. Duncan and R. Edwards (Eds.), Single mothers in an international context: Mothers or workers? (pp. 9–44). London: Routledge.
Murphy, L. (2004). Mortgage finance and housing provision in Ireland, 1970–90. Urban Studies, 32(1), 135–154.
National Economic and Social Council (1977). Report on housing subsidies. Dublin: NESC.
National Economic and Social Council (1985). A strategy for development 1986–1990. Dublin: NESC.
Norris, M., Coates, D., & Kane, F. (2007). Breeching the limits of owner occupation? Supporting low-income buyers in the inflated Irish housing market. European Journal of Housing Policy, 7(3), 337–356.
Norris, M., & Gkartzios, M. (2011). Twenty years of property-led urban regeneration in Ireland: Outputs, impacts, implications. Public Money & Management, 31(4), 257–264.
O’Brien, K. (1982, February 1). Ireland in danger of turning into west European banana republic. Irish Times, p. 5.
O’Connor, E. (2011). A labour history of Ireland 1824–2000. Dublin: UCD Press.
O’Connell, C. (2007). The state and housing in Ireland: Ideology, policy and practice. London: Nova Science.
Ó Gráda, C. (2004). Irish agriculture after the Land War. In S. Engerman & S. Metzer (Eds.), Land rights, ethno-nationality and sovereignty in history (pp. 131–152). London: Routledge.
Ó Rian, S. (2014). The rise and fall of Ireland’s Celtic Tiger: Liberalism, boom and bust. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Pellion, M. (2001). Welfare in Ireland: Actors, resources, strategies. London: Praeger.
Quinn, R. (2005). Straight left: A journey in politics. Dublin, Ireland: Hodder Headline.
Solow, B.L. (1971). The land question and the Irish economy, 1870–1903. Harvard: Harvard University Press.
Threshold (1987). Policy consequences: A study of the £5000 surrender grant in the Dublin housing area. Dublin: Threshold.
Vaughan, W. (1984). Landlord and tenants in Ireland, 1848–1904. Dundalk: Dundalgam.
Walsh, S. (1981, September 11). More harsh measures predicted next year. Irish Times, p. 6.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Norris, M. (2016). Retrenchment: 1969–1989. In: Property, Family and the Irish Welfare State. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44567-0_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44567-0_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-44566-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-44567-0
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)