Gráinne Collins

Dr. Gráinne Collins joined the National Economic and Social Council (NESC) as a Policy Analyst in 2024, focusing on social policy. An economist by training, her expertise spans a wide range of areas including poverty, inclusion, integration, migration, equality budgeting, well-being, disability, LGBTI+ issues, attitudes towards diverse equality groups, and research concerning children and youth.

Before joining NESC, Gráinne worked in the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration, and Youth (DCEDIY) (seconded from the National Disability Authority (NDA)), where she worked as a Senior Researcher in the Evidence into Policy programme. Her work covered key areas such as home visiting, ethical research practices, amplifying marginal voices in research and policy, LGBTI+ issues, migration, and integration (ESRI programme), and children and youth (ESRI programme). Additionally, she contributed to research on attitudes towards equality groups and migration, and conducted disability research, including a review of disability day services.

Gráinne has made substantial contributions to government strategies and participated in multiple cross-government initiatives, such as the Census Advisory Group, the Inter-Departmental Group on Well-Being, and the Department of Social Protection’s Technical Advisory Group. She co-authored papers on child budgeting and led a focused policy review of disability day services.

Before her role at the DCEDIY, Gráinne was a Senior Researcher at the NDA, where she conducted qualitative and quantitative research, managed the NDA-ESRI Partnership Research Programme, and co-authored the Moving On report. She also served on the National Ability Support System Advisory Committee and collaborated with the Health Service Executive (HSE) to co-design a profiling tool for day service users.

Prior to her work at the NDA, Gráinne held research and academic positions at the Houses of the Oireachtas and Trinity College Dublin (where she taught research methods and the sociology of employment).

Gráinne holds a DPhil from the University of Ulster, where her thesis examined movements into and out of poverty in the context of evolving welfare policies.

Email: grainne.collins@nesc.ie