Dutch academic claims almost half of Irish families would be 'better off' on social welfare than at work

A controversial Dutch academic once member of a prestigious Dublin think-tank has made headlines by airing the claim that 44% of Irish families would be better off drawing the Dole (collecting social welfare) than workingRichard Tol, a somewhat eccentric looking Dutch economist well-known for his bizarre hair-dos, contributions to theirisheconomyie, and for once working at the ESRI (Economic and Social Research Institute), said that he will likely publish the working paper under the auspices of the University of Sussex, where he now works, rather than through the ESRI, from which he has since resignedThe report, findings from which were published by the weekend's newspapers, was hastily removed from the think-tank's website, an eyebrow-raising move described as 'unprecedented' and dramatic enough to force Minister for Social Protection Joan Bruton to deny having had any involvement in its hasty deletion of the working paper Read more