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Ireland’s Long Run Social Development and Vulnerabilitywhich had become ingrained in Ireland’s economy, society andpolitical culture. Positive links between population growth anddemographic change, on the one hand, and a strong economicperformance, on the other, are already evident but their fullunfolding is not automatic and will require institutional and policychanges on many different fronts.2.3.2 The Evolution of the Irish Welfare SystemHistorical OutlinesÓ Riain and O’Connell (2000) describe the evolution of the welfarestate in Ireland as an example of delayed development. Theysummarise the position at the foundation of the state as follows:“The legacy at the time of political independence in 1922 combinedan underdeveloped economy and a minimalist state. The inheritanceincluded an attenuated version of British welfare institutions,including the poor relief system, an embryonic social insurancesystem providing unemployment and sickness compensation tomanual employees, limited health and housing services andsubsidised education” (324).There were few welfare innovations in the first decade afterindependence. However, the 1930s ushered in an era of reform.Benefit payments were increased, new income maintenanceschemes were introduced and a public housing programme wasimplemented. In 1947, a unified Department of Social Welfare wasestablished. The Social Welfare Act of 1952 made universal variousschemes of income maintenance. Cousins (1995) argues that theIrish system emerging in the 1950s remained “fragmented with littlecommitment to inter-class solidarity, unlike the relative universalismof the systems in the UK or Scandinavian countries”. In thehealth area, attempts at reform, which would entail greater stateinvolvement, were discouraged by the Catholic Church and privatemedical practitioners. The educational system remained predominantlyprivate, with most of the population only able to attendprimary level, which was state subsidised.103