IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/hepoli/v125y2021i6p777-785.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Creating universal health care in Ireland: A legal context

Author

Listed:
  • Lau, Manfred
  • Larkin, Charles
  • Harty, Michael
  • Corbet, Shaen

Abstract

In this paper we establish a working definition of, and develop a legal rationale for, the insertion of a constitutional Right to Health (RTH) protection in the Constitution of Ireland. We propose that a legal framework exists for the judicial enforcement of a right to health in Ireland, as based on parallels drawn between Irish case law and that of RSA, a comparable common law constitutional democracy with a developed jurisprudential approach to its constitutional RTH. When modelled after precedential international provisions, this right strengthens and defends health policy goals (such as universal health care) through a common-law system of governmental accountability. Additionally, national rights to health have observable correlations with improved public health, and it stimulates institutional initiatives. The 1937 Constitution of Ireland includes several personal, social, and economic rights, and a RTH would complement the existing right to primary education as a socio-economic right. We note these considerations were discussed during the legislative proposal made in the 32nd Dáil for a constitutional RTH, which emerged in response to Ireland’s ongoing efforts toward health policy reform.

Suggested Citation

  • Lau, Manfred & Larkin, Charles & Harty, Michael & Corbet, Shaen, 2021. "Creating universal health care in Ireland: A legal context," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 125(6), pages 777-785.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:hepoli:v:125:y:2021:i:6:p:777-785
    DOI: 10.1016/j.healthpol.2021.04.003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168851021001019
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.healthpol.2021.04.003?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Burke, Sara Ann & Normand, Charles & Barry, Sarah & Thomas, Steve, 2016. "From universal health insurance to universal healthcare? The shifting health policy landscape in Ireland since the economic crisis," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(3), pages 235-240.
    2. Meegan, Andrew & Corbet, Shaen & Larkin, Charles, 2018. "Financial market spillovers during the quantitative easing programmes of the global financial crisis (2007–2009) and the European debt crisis," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 128-148.
    3. Burke, Sara & Barry, Sarah & Siersbaek, Rikke & Johnston, Bridget & Ní Fhallúin, Maebh & Thomas, Steve, 2018. "Sláintecare – A ten-year plan to achieve universal healthcare in Ireland," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 122(12), pages 1278-1282.
    4. Hiroaki Matsuura, 2013. "The Effect of a Constitutional Right to Health on Population Health in 157 Countries, 1970–2007: the Role of Democratic Governance," PGDA Working Papers 10613, Program on the Global Demography of Aging.
    5. Wang, Guang-Xu, 2012. "A network approach for researching political feasibility of healthcare reform: The case of universal healthcare system in Taiwan," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(12), pages 2337-2344.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Johnston, Bridget M. & Burke, Sara & Barry, Sarah & Normand, Charles & Ní Fhallúin, Maebh & Thomas, Steve, 2019. "Private health expenditure in Ireland: Assessing the affordability of private financing of health care," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(10), pages 963-969.
    2. Burke, Sara & McGettrick, Grainne & Foley, Karen & Manikandan, Manjula & Barry, Sarah, 2020. "The 2019 neuro-rehabilitation implementation framework in Ireland: Challenges for implementation and the implications for people with brain injuries," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 124(3), pages 225-230.
    3. Corbet, Shaen & Larkin, Charles & McMullan, Caroline, 2020. "The impact of industrial incidents on stock market volatility," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    4. Noureddine Benlagha & Wael Hemrit, 2022. "Does economic policy uncertainty matter to explain connectedness within the international sovereign bond yields?," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 46(1), pages 1-21, January.
    5. Corbet, Shaen & Hou, Yang & Hu, Yang & Oxley, Les, 2020. "The influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on asset-price discovery: Testing the case of Chinese informational asymmetry," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    6. Sarah Gibney & Lucy Bruton & Catherine Ryan & Gerardine Doyle & Gillian Rowlands, 2020. "Increasing Health Literacy May Reduce Health Inequalities: Evidence from a National Population Survey in Ireland," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(16), pages 1-17, August.
    7. Ma, Yuanyuan & Nolan, Anne & Smith, James P., 2020. "Free GP care and psychological health: Quasi-experimental evidence from Ireland," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    8. Minkler, Lanse & Prakash, Nishith, 2017. "The role of constitutions on poverty: A cross-national investigation," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(3), pages 563-581.
    9. repec:ces:ifodic:v:12:y:2014:i:2:p:19116213 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Corbet, Shaen & Dunne, John James & Larkin, Charles, 2019. "Quantitative easing announcements and high-frequency stock market volatility: Evidence from the United States," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 321-334.
    11. Salisu, Afees A. & Ndako, Umar B., 2018. "Modelling stock price–exchange rate nexus in OECD countries: A new perspective," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 105-123.
    12. Feng, Chengxiao & Tan, Jie & Jiang, Zhenyu & Chen, Shuang, 2020. "A generalized European option pricing model with risk management," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 545(C).
    13. Joshua C. Gellers & Christopher Jeffords, 2015. "Procedural Environmental Rights and Environmental Justice: Assessing the Impact of Environmental Constitutionalism," Economic Rights Working Papers 25, University of Connecticut, Human Rights Institute.
    14. Hu, Yang & Hou, Yang (Greg) & Oxley, Les & Corbet, Shaen, 2021. "Does blockchain patent-development influence Bitcoin risk?," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    15. Connolly, Sheelah & Wren, Maev-Ann, 2016. "The 2011 proposal for Universal Health Insurance in Ireland: Potential implications for healthcare expenditure," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(7), pages 790-796.
    16. Lang, Chunlin & Hu, Yang & Corbet, Shaen & Hou, Yang (Greg), 2024. "Tail risk connectedness in G7 stock markets: Understanding the impact of COVID-19 and related variants," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C).
    17. Kodila-Tedika, Oasis & Mulunda Kabange, Martin, 2018. "Constitutional instability and Poverty: Some Empirical Evidence," MPRA Paper 84501, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. George N. Apostolakis & Nikolaos Giannellis & Athanasios P. Papadopoulos, 2023. "Macro‐financial effects of monetary policy easing," Journal of Forecasting, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(3), pages 715-738, April.
    19. McDonnell, Thérèse & Nicholson, Emma & Bury, Gerard & Collins, Claire & Conlon, Ciara & Denny, Kevin & O'Callaghan, Michael & McAuliffe, Eilish, 2022. "Policy of free GP care for children under 6 years: The impact on daytime and out-of-hours general practice," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 296(C).
    20. Christopher Jeffords, 2015. "A Panel Data Analysis of the Effects of Constitutional Environmental Rights Provisions on Access to Improved Sanitation Facilities and Water Sources," Economic Rights Working Papers 24, University of Connecticut, Human Rights Institute.
    21. Hiroaki Matsuura, 2016. "Constitutional social and environmental human rights and child health outcomes in Latin American countries," WIDER Working Paper Series 168, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:hepoli:v:125:y:2021:i:6:p:777-785. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu or the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/healthpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.