Including four new chapters, this updated edition explores the following:

* The advent of the euro and the increasing relevance of developments in the European Union

* The impact of increased globalisation on activities in Ireland, especially the environment

* The changing role of the state, in terms of expenditure levels and patterns, taxation and social partnership

* The huge growth in employment and immigration

* The concern with distribution issues including social, economic, political and affective inequality

* The huge scale of activity in the building and construction sector, and the resulting dramatically changing physical landscape

* Competition policy and regulation for the services sector and natural monopolies

* The importance of education, both as a factor in explaining economic growth and in terms of considerations of efficiency and equity in delivery of services

* Likewise for the health sector, where barely a month goes by without some major economic or safety issue arising

* The declining importance of the agricultural sector, particularly in employment and state funding, and the increasing emphasis on the general food sector, such as food safety, distribution, changing consumption patterns and the environmental consequences of farming activity