Not everyone is equal in our two-tier State

Not everyone is equal in our two-tier State

Paul Melia

Irish people can expect to live longer and healthier lives than most of our European neighbours, are less likely to own a car, and have the lowest divorce rates across the EU.

The Central Statistics Office says we have among the highest fertility rates, had the highest proportion of mathematics, science and technology (Stem) graduates in the EU in 2014, and 87pc of households have internet access, higher than the average.

The ‘Measuring Ireland’s Progress 2016’ report paints a view of the social, economic, environmental, health and education situation in Ireland, and while notable improvements are noted, issues remain.

On the environment, while the amount of waste being landfilled dropped by 70pc to 536,5000 tonnes between 2004 and 2014, we under-utilise our rail network and insist on transporting freight by road, which adds to emissions.

Gender parity remains a pipe dream for many – despite being better educated, women were paid 13.9pc an hour less than men in 2014. This compares with 16.3pc across the EU.

And while the economy continues to grow and Government debt falls, one in eight people lives in a jobless household, the sixth-highest rate in the EU. Also, 15.9pc of people aged 18-24 are not in employment, education or training, higher than the 15.2pc EU average.

Here, we outline how Ireland compares with our nearest neighbours.

Health

A girl born in 2015 can expect to enjoy 67.9 years of good health, the third-highest rate in the EU, and 4.6 years above the EU average.

Boys born the same year can expect 66.6 years of good health, also four years higher than the average.

The CSO says these rates compare favourably with other countries. Irish men will likely spend 16pc of their life in poor health, compared with a quarter for those in Austria, Estonia, Latvia, Croatia, Portugal and Slovakia. Women in Finland and Portugal are predicted to spend around a third of their life with health issues, compared with 19pc of Irish women.

Spending on health per person increased from €2,668 to €2,964 between 2006 and 2015, up 11pc, the CSO says.

Education

Irish women are better educated than men – 52pc aged 25-34 have a third-level qualification compared with 41pc of males. Overall, just under half of this age cohort (46.7pc) have a third-level education, compared with an EU average of 37.5pc.

Irish 15-year-olds have the ninth-highest mathematics rate in the EU, the second highest score for reading and rank seventh for scientific literacy.

Real expenditure per student increased by 15.1pc at primary level and 6.8pc at second level, but fell by 24.6pc between 2006-2015.

Just under one in six (15.9pc) of those aged 18-24 in 2016 was neither in employment nor in education or training, slightly above the 15.2pc EU average.

Housing

The number of annual ESB connections to dwelling units increased sharply to peak at almost 90,000 in 2006 before collapsing to a low of 8,301 in 2013. It stood at 19,271 in 2017.

The number of issued mortgages has also fallen, and the amounts borrowed have dropped.

Housing loans dropped from a high of 84,286 in 2007 to just 11,227 in 2011, rising since to 25,148 in 2016. The average value of a housing loan dropped by over a third between 2008 and 2012, from €270,200 to €173,600. It stood at €198,700 by 2016.

Employment

Irish workers, based on GDP per hour worked, are the most productive in Europe, 78.3pc higher than the EU average. The 13 member states that joined in 2004, along with Greece, Portugal, Spain and the UK, have rates below the EU average.

The employment rate in Ireland in 2016, at 66.4pc, was just below the EU average of 66.6pc – the highest employment rate that year across the EU was in Sweden at 76.2pc, while the lowest was in Greece at 52pc.

The unemployment rate in Ireland in 2016, at 9.1pc, was the tenth-highest in the EU. The lowest rate was in the Czech Republic at 4pc and the highest in Greece at 23.6pc.

Environment

There were 436 passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants in Ireland in 2015, which is low by EU standards.

The highest number of cars was in Luxembourg at 661 per 1,000 population, with the lowest in Romania at 261.

Total greenhouse gas emissions in Ireland fell by 13.6pc between 2006 and 2015, from 69.3 million tonnes of CO2 to 59.9 million tonnes.

At that point, we were 3pc below our Kyoto limits, but we will not meet 2020 targets.

In 2014, Ireland was the most energy efficient economy in the EU, because service-based economies like Ireland use less energy than those with energy-intensive industries like iron and steel production.

Virtually all freight (99pc) is transported by road, compared with an EU average of 75.8pc.

Only Cyprus and Malta have higher rates – but they have no railway system.

The lowest rate of road freight is in Latvia at 43.7pc.

Society

Ireland has the lowest divorce rate in the EU, with just 0.6 divorces per 1,000 population in 2015. It fell between 2005 and 2015 from 0.8 to 0.6. The highest rate is in Lithuania at 3.2, followed by Denmark at 2.9.

And while the State accounted for just under 1pc of the total EU population in 2016, it had the third-highest percentage increase in population between 2006 and 2016 after Luxembourg and Cyprus.

Germany, Greece and Poland saw population decline over the period. The EU population is just over 510 million – Ireland makes up 4.7 million of that figure.

Immigration into Ireland stood at 84,600 in 2017, down from 113,500 in 2008. Some 18,700 came from the UK.

In 2017, 64,800 people emigrated, a drop from 83,000 in 2012 but still above 2008 levels of 49,200.

Ireland had the second-highest fertility rate in the EU in 2015, at 1.92; the EU average was much lower at 1.58.

Just over a third (36.5pc) of all Irish births in 2015 were outside marriage, below the EU average of 42pc.

France had the highest rate at 59.1pc. Iceland’s rate stands at 66.9pc. Greece is at 8.8pc.

Poverty

One in eight people lives in a jobless household, the sixth highest rate in the EU.

The at-risk-of-poverty rate stood at 16.6pc in 2016, below the EU rate of 17.3pc.

But in 2016, one in 12 of the population in Ireland was living in consistent poverty, including one in nine children aged under 17 years.

Prices

Ireland had the fourth-highest prices levels in the EU in 2016, with prices 23.7pc above the EU average.

Only Denmark, Sweden and Luxembourg were more expensive.

However, this was an improvement on 2008 when price levels in Ireland were 26.5pc above the EU average and were the second highest in the EU.

Ireland experienced the fourth-smallest rise in prices between 2013 and 2017 at just 0.4pc.

Irish Independent

, https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/not-everyone-is-equal-in-our-twotier-state-36864818.html

http://asylumireland.ml/not-everyone-is-equal-in-our-two-tier-state/