Noteworthy

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JUMPING THROUGH HOOPS: Are sports capital grants fairly distributed?

Ireland

Concerns over the geographic breakdown of sports grants as well as lack of grant funding for certain sports types have been raised in recent years.

0 Backers raised €0 of €2210

Open

PRICE OF KNOWLEDGE: Are rising costs a barrier to third-level education?

Ireland

Ireland has the highest third-level fees in the EU, with students also burdened with increasingly higher accommodation costs.

2 Backers raised €30 of €2530

Open

FREE TO AIR: Why are fans losing open access to viewing sporting events?

Ireland

Major sporting events in Ireland’s three leading sports - GAA, soccer and rugby - have traditionally been broadcast as free-to-air events for all to see on national TV.

0 Backers raised €0 of €1960

Open

ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT: Why is Naas surrounded by vacant industrial sites?

Ireland

Traditionally, a market town in a rural setting, today Naas is one of the fastest growing urban areas in the Dublin commuter belt and an important node in the regional economy of Kildare. This was exemplified in 2015, when Kerry Group built its new global research centre just outside the town.

4 Backers raised €120 of €1695

Open

BILL OF HEALTH : Are wellness pyramid schemes preying on Irish consumers?

Ireland

The wellness, health and beauty industries have become big business in recent years globally - but not all players are interested in the wellbeing of their clients. A nasty side shoot has sprung up of so-called wellness schemes that make dubious claims of health benefits and promise easy money in return for an initial investment.

1 Backer raised €20 of €2300

Open

DEBT OF DAIRY: Is State agri-expansion policy driving up debt in the dairy sector?

Ireland

On the face of it, the dairy sector is doing well; it has seen a resurgence in production and profit since the end of the milk quota in 2015.

5 Backers raised €225 of €2320

Open

E-LEARNING THE HARD WAY: Are online education courses taking advantage of people during the pandemic?

International

With citizens across the world in intermittent lockdown since the start of the pandemic, the opportunity for learning new skills and interacting with our peers has been largely limited to the online realm.

0 Backers raised €0 of €3375

Nearly Funded

ACROSS THE BOARD: Are rural grants being distributed equally under the LEADER scheme?

Ireland

Since 2014, €220 million worth of rural projects have been funded through the LEADER programme which are administered by Local Action Groups (LAGs).

14 Backers raised €2829 of €3120

Open

FOUR IN THE BED: How much are the Big Four consultancy firms profiting from public money?

Ireland

Concerns have been raised on numerous occasions about the vast amount of public money spent on consultancy firms in Ireland, with over €13 million allocated to ‘consultancy services, value for money and policy reviews’ across departments in Budget 2020.

16 Backers raised €325 of €2605

Open

FUELLING RETIREMENT: Are Irish pensions contributing to the climate crisis?

Ireland

In 2019, Ireland became one of the first countries in the world to divest its investment fund away from companies that make substantial profit from fossil fuels. However, the majority of private Irish pension funds still include companies involved in oil and gas exploration, extraction and refinement.

23 Backers raised €687 of €1240

Completed

FUNDING FERTILITY: Has the delay in publicly funding IVF destroyed people’s chance to have children?

Ireland

Around one in six couples in Ireland experience difficulty when trying to have children and will face thousands of euro in costs if they seek fertility treatment.

28 Backers raised €950 of €950