LAW37560 Social Inclusion Law

Academic Year 2024/2025

The meaning of social inclusion is contested. Law has a complex relationship with social inclusion. Within the realms of social welfare law and housing law, significant state architecture exists to, in part, meet the needs of persons. This module examines legislative entitlement to certain social welfare payments and forms of housing assistance/rights in Ireland. Exploring and critiquing social policy preferences of political, administrative and legal actors, and providing entitlements to welfare and housing in legislative, and quasi-legislative, form will be a key focus of this module.

Where domestic legislative entitlements in housing and welfare fall short of providing for needs, this can shine a light on whether Bunreacht na hÉireann (the Irish Constitution) can -or even should- act as a tool to enhance such rights. Significant international obligations inhere within welfare and housing law due to Ireland freely accepting to be bound by such obligations, at the international (UN) level. How does such a complex matrix of law, legal systems, and differing conceptions of rights, interplay and result in the achievement of social inclusion in Ireland?

At its heart, this module seeks to tease out some key questions:
(i) Can or should law have as one of its aims to protect groups who have been marginalised in/by Irish society?
(ii) How do political decisions impact on legal entitlements to social welfare and housing in Ireland?
(iii) Is law the best tool to achieve (contested) objectives on building a socially inclusive society?
(iv) How European and/or international bodies assessed Irish compliance with its legal obligations pertaining to housing & social welfare?
(v) What, if any, role should Irish courts have in interpreting fundamental rights, including unenumerated/derived rights, as protecting a right to adequate standard of living, including housing. Is this decision not more appropriately left to political actors?

This module has two forms of assessment. Much more detail, along with supports for you, will be provided in the module handbook and in dedicated class time for assessment discussion.

The first assessment, accounting for 50% of the module grade, will involve a law and policy submission regarding the protection of housing rights in Ireland. This requires independent research beyond materials provided in reading lists and will include the need to assess an area of housing law that we will not cover in lectures. This assessment will be due in October 2024. A provisional result and detailed class feedback will be available to you prior to the due date for your second assessment.

The second assessment, accounting for 50% of the module grade, will have two parts.
Part One will involve the completion of a compulsory problem question (restricted to engagement with essential and recommended legislation, case-law and readings) (25%)
Part Two will involve writing a legal blog post, based solely on quality legal materials, on a particular aspect of a topic covered in the module. This will require independent research. (25%)


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Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

At the end of this module, a student, who has attended lectures, engaged with directed readings, conducted independent research and completed all assessments, will be able to meet the following Learning Outcomes (LO):

LO1: Critique law, international, constitutional, legislative and quasi-legislative, as a method for achieving social inclusion within Irish society.
LO2: Describe legislative entitlement to housing and social welfare in Ireland, broadly, and with respect to identified societal groups.
LO3: Appraise the utility, or otherwise, of Irish constitutional law and international human rights law in protecting persons rights to welfare and/or housing.
LO4: Independently research issues not discussed in lectures, utilising your legal research skills to identify relevant quality legal materials.
LO5 Interpret, evaluate and analyse both theoretical insights and practical legal implementation relating to housing and social welfare law.
LO6: Formulate reasoned opinions and communicate ideas to different target audiences e.g. politicians, government, lawyers, courts/the judiciary, international human rights bodies and the wider public.

Indicative Module Content:

The topics that will be covered in LAW37560 Social Inclusion Law in 2024/2025 are:*

1. Law and Social Inclusion: Conceptual Challenges

2. Is there such a thing as a 'right to housing' (recorded lecture)

3. Social Housing in Irish Law

4. Mincerí/ Irish Travellers, Housing and Irish Law

5. Law and Homelessness

6. An Introduction to Irish Welfare Law and Administrative Justice in the Welfare State

7. Citizenship, Residence and Access to Social Assistance in Ireland

8. Work & Families

9. Disability, Carers and the Irish Welfare State

10. International Protection Applicants and Entitlement to Shelter

11. The Irish Constitution and Social Inclusion


*subject to change, consult the module outline on Brightspace for final confirmation of module topics for 24/25.

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Specified Learning Activities

5
Autonomous Student Learning

100
Lectures

20
Total

125
Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
The course aims to enable deep learning by students from diverse backgrounds and perspectives, who engage with each other in a respectful, open-minded manner. Students are expected to engage in thoughtful discussion, based on their reading, with respect and empathy for other students, and indeed for your teachers (and vice-versa).

The reading list, lecture outlines and PowerPoints offer insights into important legal debates on a range of important legal statuses and practices.

Reasoned disagreement is a welcome part of academic discourse, as is flexibility of mindset and reflectivity. Aim to disagree without becoming disagreeable. The diversity that students bring to this class should be viewed as a resource. Your further suggestions are encouraged and appreciated.

This module is lecture and seminar based. This means that for certain topics, students must complete pre-lecture readings prior to the seminar.

There are 22 teaching/seminar hours for this module. This is simply the start of your exploration of a topic. The vast majority of your time will be spend completing reading lists in full and independently searching for and engaging with quality legal sources in order to enhance your knowledge.

Approaches to teaching and learning will include:
Problem based learning,
reflective learning,
case-law based learning,
critical thinking approaches to law and social inclusion, with a focus on welfare law and housing law, and,
assisting you with becoming an independent learner.

This is generally a face-to-face module. Lectures will not be recorded (other than for one topic). Berg and Seeber (The Slow Professor, 2016) in response to the growth of hybrid/online learning have stated "attempting to achieve collegiality by transferring the model of virtual networking to face-to-face encounters only alienates us even further."
 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade In Module Component Repeat Offered
Assignment(Including Essay): A 2,000 word (excluding footnotes) expert law and policy report. Independent research is required in order to complete this assessment. Week 6 Graded No

50

 No
Assignment(Including Essay): Completion of a problem question/scenario and a blog post. The blog post requires independent research. Week 12 Graded No

50

 No

Carry forward of passed components
Yes
 
Resit In Terminal Exam
Spring No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Group/class feedback, post-assessment
• Self-assessment activities

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Should students require feedback on their learning for this module, then students are encouraged to self-assess their learning, and seek clarification from the lecturer, by arranging to meet the lecturer during office hours. Group class feedback for all assessments will be provided. Individual provisional grades will be provided. Opportunities to discuss individual performance will be offered. It may not be possible to offer individual feedback sessions until UCD releases the grades for Semester 1 (late January/early February 2025) . Consult the module outline on Brightspace for further details and keep an eye on Brightspace announcements.

Core Primary Legal Materials

Domestic legislation and judicial decisions and relevant international legal instruments and associated materials. You will be directed to precise materials in your topic by topic reading lists. All these materials will be accessible through UCD Library (hard copy or e-materials).


Core Secondary Materials

You will be referred to relevant secondary legal materials (books, book chapters, journal articles, case-notes, blogs, reports etc.) as appropriate in the week-by-week reading lists. I will only be recommending materials that you can have ready access to either through UCD Library or freely available on-line (such as on academic institutional repositories).

Do not purchase any text for this module. Reading and other materials will be available from UCD Library. This textbook reading list is indicative only and is subject to change:

Mel Cousins and Gerry Whyte, Social Security Law in Ireland (4rd edn, Wolters Kluwer 2024).
Neville Harris, Law in a Complex State: Complexity in the Law and Structure of Welfare (Hart 2013)
Monika Bar et al (eds), Marginalised Groups, Inequalities and the Post-War Welfare State (Routledge 2020).
Anthony McCashin, Continuity and change in the welfare state: social security in the Republic of Ireland (Palgrave 2019).
Neil Maddox and Finn Keyes, Housing: Law and Practice (Clarus 2024).
Fiona Dukelow and Mairéad Considine, Irish Social Policy: A Critical Introduction (2nd edn, Policy Press 2017).

Week-by-week reading lists will direct you to relevant journal articles and other materials from leading legal, social policy and social inclusion academics, experts and practitioners.
Name Role
Sharon Etokhana Lecturer / Co-Lecturer