Ireland

Abstract

Ireland’s hybrid welfare system was extended in the period of economic growth from the early 1990s to 2008, and there were some efforts to provide tailored services. A social investment perspective emerged as an overlapping consensus within the social partnership system. The crisis forced a massive fiscal consolidation and ended the partnership approach. After 2008, some reforms had a social investment element, but it remains unclear whether the organizational structures are being created to deliver tailored capacitating services. The Irish case prompts thought about the relation between piecemeal cases of tailored services and a wider, well-articulated, social investment programme. It also illustrates a shift from service provision through non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the 1990s, to a focus on reform of state services since the crisis. There is potential for a broad coalition in support of social investment, but this raises political risks and poses profound organization challenges.