Welfare State Development in the context of European Integration and Economic Convergence: Situating Ireland within the European Union Context

The issue of convergence has received considerable attention within the European Union over the past decade. Convergence on key economic dimensions was a clear objective of Ireland's entry into the European Community and is now central to the admission aspirations of the current applicant countries. In this paper I outline key aspects of Ireland's economic convergence and explore the implications of membership of the European Union for its welfare state development. I examine whether or not there is a process of convergence of the Irish welfare state towards the European Union average in expenditure terms and where the Irish welfare state fits in terms of EU welfare state regimes. This paper raises issues about convergence and the simultaneous processes of economic convergence and social divergence. Issues about the role of the state in economic and social development and the difference between its developmental and distributional roles are considered.