Links and Citations

Pobal

Pobal is an intermediary that works on behalf of the Irish Government to support communities and local agencies toward achieving social inclusion, reconciliation and equality. Pobal has been the principal funder of successive deprivation indices and maintains a dedicated section of its website to publish reports, data files and online mapping tools for the Pobal-Haase Deprivation Index.

The Index of Relative Affluence and Deprivation (Haase & Pratschke, 1996, 2005) provided the basis for the original designation of areas to be included under successive local development programmes. Since 2008, the Local Development Social Inclusion Programme (LDSIP), and subsequently Local Community Development Programme (LCDP) have covered the whole of the country. However, the emphasis of the programme remains on targeting activities towards the most disadvantaged areas.

Pobal Maps – Online Mapping Tool

Since Autumn 2011, Pobal is offering an interactive mapping platform for the ED-based New Measures of Deprivation and the new Pobal-Haase Deprivation Index for Small Areas. The online mapping tool is accessible without registration and is rapidly developing into one of the most useful tools for the strategic development of groups funded under the Local Community Development Programme (LCDP).

RAPID

The Revitalising Areas by Planning, Investment and Development (RAPID) Programme was launched in February 2001 in order to direct State assistance towards
improving quality of life and access to opportunities for communities in 25 designated disadvantaged urban areas throughout Ireland. A year later, the second strand of the programme extended its coverage to a further 20 provincial towns. The RAPID programme targets Exchequer funding as a priority to the designated areas. The areas were designated on the basis of disadvantaged using the New Measures of Deprivation (Haase & Pratschke, 2002, 2005), supported by data relating to location of significant rented local authority housing, and schools designated as disadvantaged by the Department of Education and Science.

All-Island Research Observatory (AIRO) – Online Mapping Tool

The All-Island Research Observatory is a research unit and interactive spatial data portal based in the National University of Ireland, Maynooth. Under the guidance of the National Institute for Regional and Spatial Analysis (NIRSA) and the National Centre for Geo-computation (NCG), AIRO has been funded by the Higher Education Authority under Cycle Four of the Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions (PRTLI4). AIRO also acts as an integral resource for the Irish Social Science Platform (ISSP)..

AIRO provides an interactive mapping tool for Dublin, which allows users to interrogate the results of deprivation measures for the Dublin counties at ED and EA level.

Health Atlas Ireland – Online Mapping Tool

Health Atlas Ireland is an open source application developed to bring health related datasets, statistical tools and GIS together in a web environment to add value to existing health data. The application enables controlled access to maps, data and analyses for service planning and delivery, major incident response, epidemiology and research to improve the health of patients and the population. Health Atlas Ireland is built upon open source software allowing it to capitalize on worldwide expertise without software licensing cost. Web access to powerful statistical, geographical and database components provide a cost-effective solution to health intelligence. Health Atlas is a ‘voyage of discovery’ for health service planning and health event data analysis. The Haase & Pratschke Deprivation Indices are made fully available through Health Atlas Ireland and represent a major tool in epidemiological research.

Health Services Executive – HSE FactFile

Deprivation is frequently associated with poor health. Those who are disadvantaged socially, economically or educationally are more likely to have poor health. The HSE FactFile reports on two indices that are widely used in this context in Ireland; the Haase & Pratschke Deprivation Index and the SAHRU Index. Detailed Health Status Reports are provided for each county, based on the 2006 Census of Population.

Health Research Board

Towards the development of a resource allocation model for primary, continuting and community care in the health services.

This study was conducted by a research team lead by Professor Anthony Staines at DCU and was commissioned by the HRB and HSE. The report of this study proposes a resource allocation model for the Irish health services based on the principle that each Irish resident should be provided with access to health services funded from general taxation and in proportion to their need for those services.

There is no single correct way to allocate resources, and there is no perfect model. What is required is a model that is comprehensible to non-specialists; is acceptable to practitioners, politicians and the general public; is flexible and is robust in the sense that small changes in the model and in the data will lead to small changes in resource allocation. This is the first study of its kind undertaken in Ireland. The Haase-Pratschke Deprivation Index is shown to form an essential part of such undertaking.

The study comprises two volumes: 1)  Executive Summary and  2)  Technical Report

National Transport Authority

The National Transport Authority (NTA) has a statutory responsibility to ensure that it obtains maximum social benefit from the funding provided to the CIÉ Group companies with which it holds direct award contracts for the discharge of public service obligations (PSO). To this end, NTA sought to establish a framework for the evaluation of social benefits, to be used where resources need to be prioritised. The purpose of this framework is to give NTA a basis upon which it can approve or initiate changes to socially necessary services, by providing the relevant information to support decision making in marginal or doubtful cases. The New Measures of Deprivation are an important ingredient in this process.

The study can be downloaded here:  Social Impact Estimation Methodology

Higher Education Access Route (HEAR)

The Higher Education Access Route (HEAR) is a college and university admissions scheme which offers places on reduced points and extra college support to school leavers from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds. HEAR has been set up by a number of colleges and universities as evidence shows that socio-economic disadvantage can have a negative effect on how well a student does at school and whether they go on to college.

The index scores of the Haase & Pratschke Deprivation Index constitute one of the six criteria which are applied to assess whether a student is eligible to benefit from HEAR.

Oireachtas Library & Research Services

Spotlight: Social Regeneration – Beyond Bricks and Mortar.

This Spotlight looks at social regeneration and the geographical (or spatial) concentration of disadvantage. While area-based policies attempt social regeneration by targeting localities with a high level of disadvantage, some studies indicate that contrary to popular belief, most poor families do not live in poor areas. Therefore, by confining disadvantage to a geographical area, many socially excluded families and individuals are removed from the equation. The Spotlight looks at the use of Area-based initiatives (ABIs) and considers arguments for and against the use of ABIs as a means of social regeneration. The Spotlight also includes research which suggests that interventions targeted at family and individual level may have the greatest effect on the life prospects of those involved.

The article can be downloaded here: Spotlight: Social Regeneration