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The growth and the nature of precarious work has become an important subject of research on contemporary employment. Equally, there has been an increased interest among researchers in understanding the social consequences of precarious employment. There is an increasing awareness of the negative affect on health posed by precarious work. However, a relatively unexplored issue is the extent to which access to healthcare depends on the form of both precarious work and of healthcare provision in a specific nation state. This article explores the social implications of precarious work, with a focus on access to healthcare services in Ireland. 40 qualitative interviews were conducted with precarious workers living in Ireland that took place between July and October 2017.These were part of a broader study called the Social Implications of Precarious Work Project. A thematic analysis was conducted, which revealed the following: precarious employment often makes access to basic healthcare problematic, so that many are often unable to access essential medical treatment. On the one hand they are unable to access means-tested public services, but on the other hand cannot afford the cost of private treatment and private health insurance. This has negative consequences for workers’ health. Many precarious workers are pushed into relationships of dependency, creating new forms of social inheritance, since only some can access better healthcare by using family resources. For precarious workers who do not have this, inequality is further exacerbated.

This article addresses the gendered impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the policy domains of care, with a particular focus on childcare. By using historical institutionalism as a conceptual framework, and Ireland as a case study, the article examines the extent to which the pandemic constituted a “critical juncture” leading to change in childcare policy in the country. The study is based on data collected in Ireland as part of the RESISTIRÉ project (Responding to outbreaks through co-creative inclusive equality strategies and collaboration), which investigates the impact of COVID-19 on equality in thirty-one countries, specifically through a gender+ approach that focuses on analyzing the impact of policy responses to COVID-19 on existing inequalities. The analysis carried out in this article reveals that changes in childcare policy were more adaptive than transformative, and that the underlying gender logic of the Irish welfare state regime remained unchanged.

Over the last few decades lifestyle migration has been receiving increased interest amongst scholars. Most of the studies conducted in Europe tend to focus on the individuals from the ‘Old’ European Union (EU) countries moving abroad in search of a better quality of life and improved ‘social atmosphere’. The mobility of the ‘New’ Member State (NMS) nationals, on the other hand, is still perceived as predominantly economic and labour migration oriented. This article however, will argue that this is not necessarily the case for young NMS migrants who left their countries following the 2004 EU Enlargement. By using the example of Polish nationals living in Ireland the author will examine how these migrants, while initially motivated by economic factors, decided to stay in the host country for non-monetary reasons. This issue became significant following the 2008 recession, where people made their decisions to not return home despite the worsening economic situation in Ireland. This article argues – based on interview data - that these decisions were influenced by lifestyle rather than economic factors.

Migrant workers in the construction industry are often taken to be motivated purely by short-term financial gains. The dramatic influx of Polish workers into the Irish building industry during the Celtic Tiger boom thus appears a clear case of economic migration. A qualitative panel study (2008–2013) which interviewed Polish construction workers through the boom and subsequent recession reveals a more complex picture. Migrants’ initial move to Ireland was sometimes motivated partly by non-financial concerns such as the desire for new experiences. When the construction industry crashed, many migrants did leave Ireland, but interviews with them back in Poland showed that family issues such as children’s education had been important. Many migrants remained in Ireland, sometimes facilitated by access to unemployment benefits. The Polish construction workers included some with technical and professional qualifications and these appear more likely to have stayed in Ireland. This decision often involved re-training for a new career and was motivated by new social relationships and a perceived better quality of life. These findings suggest that the issues raised by contemporary lifestyle migration are relevant even for some construction workers.

Formal and informal employment have traditionally been perceived as separate. This division usually has a social, geographical and temporal character. However, it has also been argued that formal and informal economic practices are not necessarily distinctive and often coexist within the same spaces, firms or even jobs. This article explores the blurring boundaries between formal and informal work. By using examples from four sectors of the Irish economy, we demonstrate how some employers ‘informalise’ working conditions of their formal employees. As we show, such informalisation is mainly focused on cutting employment costs and setting earnings below the minimum wage. This has resulted in a further erosion of the formal–informal division in some sectors of Ireland's post‐recession labour market.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the ethnically diverse workplace in Irish hospitals by examining the perspectives of foreign- and Irish-born professionals and their managers. Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured qualitative interviews with 30 health professionals (foreign- and Irish-born) and with hospital managers (Irish-born). All interviews were transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis. Findings The managers and professionals interviewed mostly perceived ethnically diverse workplaces as an asset. Health professionals also identified a number of challenges, including internal divisions based on ethnicity, language and communication problems and cultural differences. However, in general, discrimination on the basis of ethnicity was not highlighted by interviewees. Research limitations/implications While the qualitative design of the study allowed for an in-depth exploration of experiences in ethnically diverse workplaces in selected Irish hospitals, the relatively small sample size poses some limitations. The study brings to light the need for larger-scale survey-based research on the ethnically diverse workplace in Irish hospitals, which includes Irish- and foreign-born health professionals in the sample. Originality/value The study includes a variety of perspectives on experiences in ethnically diverse workplaces in Irish hospitals, including foreign-born health professionals, their Irish-born colleagues and hospital managers.

This article examines the ability of young Irish graduates to enact mobility as a form of personal and career development both during economic expansion and recession. Of particular interest is the observation that Irish graduates are much more mobile than those in other countries which were also badly affected by the recession. Drawing from a study of recent Irish graduate emigrants (Irish Graduate Abroad Study), the article demonstrates how Irish graduates have successfully negotiated routes into global labour markets, facilitated by the relatively straightforward recognition of their qualifications, their ability to speak English and the visa permissions that enable such movement. Irish graduates have incredible global networks generated through a family history of migration. Irish graduates also have a considerable prior culture of mobility facilitated through institutionally mediated mobility programmes. Taken together, Irish graduates have amongst the lowest barriers globally to actually enact global careers. In the context of limited opportunities in Ireland due to its size and its current economic situation, mobility is an attractive choice with far more to gain than lose for many young Irish graduates.

Since EU enlargement in 2004, Ireland has emerged as a major destination for Polish migrants. What are the particular features of this East–West migration? Based on repeat interviews with Polish migrants as part of a Qualitative Panel Study, we show that this migration is characterised by new mobility patterns. As ‘free movers’, Polish migrants are more mobile across national borders and within national labour markets. This affords them new opportunities beyond the employment experience. The younger and more educated of these migrants, especially, are part of a new generation of mobile Europeans for whom the move abroad is not only work-related but also involves lifestyle choices as part of a broader aspiration for self-development. The new mobility strategies of migrants become visible even in an economic downturn wherein Ireland has been hit by an unprecedented recession.

This chapter explores the tensions between the European Union’s commitment to a single European labour market in which all member state nationals are treated equally and the continuing national basis of welfare systems. In particular, it highlights the dynamics between increasingly mobile European nationals who are accessing and moving their social welfare supports across the EU, EU directives guaranteeing equal protection among member state nationals, and national welfare implementation systems which have engaged in selective ‘restriction’ policies in response to EU enlargements during the 2000s. The chapter examines the topic using a case study of Polish migration to Ireland following Poland’s accession to the EU in 2004. The chapter argues that a rise in various forms of mobility has implications for national welfare systems and for individuals’ well-being. Although European citizens have relatively easier access to host-country welfare provisions than do non-EU nationals, access by the latter continues to be shaped by economic activity and residency requirements. Within this Irish context, we show that there were attempts to qualify EU social rights with the introduction of the Habitual Residency Condition (HRC) at the time of accession in 2004. The economic crisis helped facilitate the rolling back of social rights, particularly social welfare, as evidenced by the adjustment of the HRC towards the ‘centre of interest’. These measures have served to reassert the assumption that people live in one place, with accumulating benefits to be drawn down in that same place in the event of need.

This paper explores the recruitment strategies of employers in the Irish Celtic Tiger boom labour market. It explores Irish employers' turn towards immigrants rather than pursuing other strategies such as raising productivity or mobilising alternative sources of labour. It demonstrates that during the boom years a more casualised approach to recruitment was favoured, privileging soft skills and competencies above credentialised skills. Immigrants became the employees of choice, not least because of issues of costs and obedience, but also because they brought new skills, in particular soft skills. Indeed, employers in some sectors developed a categorical preference for migrant workers as they recruited for attitude, work ethic and potential.

This article analyses labour migration through a case study of migrants and employers in the Irish construction sector. It seeks to locate the choices of both sides of the employment relationship in a broader socioeconomic context that takes into account the regulatory environment and the labour market situation. The authors show how both sides of the employment relationship took advantage of Ireland’s open labour market policy in 2004. As employers were keen to fill skill and labour shortages in a buoyant construction sector, migrants found employment with relative ease, often involving subcontracting arrangements and informal recruitment patterns. During the boom years the sector provided considerable opportunities for migrants at different skill levels. However, now that the sector has moved from ‘boom to bust’, the employment context has dramatically changed. In the light of large-scale job losses the bargaining position of employers has increased as migrants try to cope with deteriorating employment conditions.

Although Poland has been a country of emigration for many decades, Ireland has only recently become a destination country for Polish nationals. Most of the Polish migrants in Ireland came to this country directly prior or after the EU enlargement in May 2004. Therefore this community is still in the process of formation, and rapid changes can be observed. Despite the novelty of this migration fl ow, Polish citizens continue one of the largest immigration groups in Ireland. With the current circumstances of the freedom of movement between European Union states, new light can be put on the concepts of migration, ethnic identity and on such concepts as “home” and “belonging”. The aim of this paper is to describe and examine the process of the formation of Polish community in Ireland, showing how this situation differs from the situation of those Polish communities that have already been well established in other countries and how some patterns from the past are still replicated. The main focus of the paper would be analyze the infl uence of the Information and Communication Technologies on both, ethnic community formation and on the relationship between Polish migrants in Ireland, their local communities “back home” and migrants in other countries. I will argue that the traditional concept of “ethnic neighbourhood” does not apply to this community and it has been, to some extent, compensated by the notion of “virtual community”. I will also show the internal division within the community, which are no longer based on differences between migrants cohorts but rather are based on class and cultural capital characteristics. Finally, I will present the place of this community within the larger context of Polish Diaspora. The paper utilises data from my ongoing research on Polish migrants in Ireland. This research utilises qualitative methodology combining fieldwork, semi-structured interviews and on-line ethnography. In addition to that I have been using data from the Migrants Careers and Aspirations project, part of Trinity immigration research programme.

In this paper we explore the impact of the current economic downturn on Polish migrants in the Irish labour market. Ireland appears to be well suited to study the impact of the recession on intra-European migration. The country has not only experienced large-scale inward migration from the new EU Member states (NMS) in recent years, but has also been severely hit by a recession. At times of an economic crisis, questions have begun to be asked about the future intentions of migrants. By drawing on an ongoing Qualitative Panel Study on the experience of Polish migrants in the Irish labour market, we argue that simplistic assumptions about migrants leaving the country ‘when times are getting tough’ are misplaced. No doubt some NMS migrants will leave because of the worsening economic situation and new opportunities elsewhere. As East-West migration has adopted a more temporary and circular character facilitated by a free movement regime, NMS migrants have the opportunity to move on elsewhere at times of a downturn. At the same time, many Polish migrants are ‘here to stay’, for the moment at least. This is for at least three reasons. A clear majority of NMS migrants remains in employment, in spite of the downturn. Furthermore, even if migrants should lose their jobs, welfare state arrangements in the host country offer some protection against destitution. Moreover, the decision to migrate, and consequently to stay or move on, is not just reached on the basis of economic considerations alone. Particularly social networks are of importance in sustaining the migration process relatively independent from short-term economic change, including an economic downturn.

Introduction: Social dumping and the EU integration process Magdalena Bernaciak Part I Intra-EU labour and service mobility: Threat to labour standards? 1. Large-scale migration in an open labour market: The Irish experience with post-2004 labour mobility and the regulation of employment standards Torben Krings, Alicja Bobek, Elaine Moriarty, Justyna Salamonska and James Wickham 2. Breaking the law? Varieties of social dumping in a pan-European labour market Lisa Berntsen and Nathan Lillie 3. The politics of migrant irregularity: Social dumping in the French construction industry Marcus Kahmann 4. Varying perceptions of social dumping in similar countries Jens Arnholtz and Line Eldring 5. Socioeconomic cleavages between workers from new member states and host-country labour forces in the EU during the Great Recession Martin Guzi and Martin Kahanec Part II Social dumping pressures in manufacturing sectors 6. Marketization and social dumping. Management whipsawing in Europe's automotive industry Ian Greer and Marco Hauptmeier 7. Social dumping with no divide. Evidence from multinational companies in Europe Vera Trappmann 8. Coordinated interest representation along the automotive value chain as a response to social dumping practices Volker Telljohann Part III The deregulation agenda at the EU and national levels 9. EU economic freedoms and social dumping Jan Cremers 10. Have your competitiveness and eat it too. The pull and limits of cost competition in Hungary and Slovakia Vera Scepanovic 11. Tracing the competitiveness discourse in Spain: Social dumping in disguise? Monica Clua-Losada Conclusion Magdalena Bernaciak

Immigration in Europe is still understood in terms of the ‘Gastarbeiter’ immigration of the post-World War II boom: the permanent movement of unskilled workers from one country to another. A study of young educated Polish migrants in Dublin shows the limited contemporary relevance of this model: this was mobility rather than traditional migration, with journeys understood in terms of autonomy and self-development. Some contemporary Irish emigration is similar. The mass emigration of young people from Poland at the start of this century was prototypical for the individualistic forms of mobility of young Europeans today.