David Hallinan

Dr David Hallinan joined NESC as a Policy Analyst in 2023. His research interests include EU external trade policy, economic governance in the EU, the role of interest groups in shaping national and EU policy outcomes, socio-economic monitoring and evaluation, and the economics of disability and social care.

Prior to joining NESC David was an Economic Statistician with the National Disability Authority (NDA) where he was engaged in applied quantitative research and the development of evidence-informed policy advice. His responsibilities included managing the NDA-ESRI Partnership Research Programme, the development of quantitative indicators and statistical evidence to monitor the implementation of several national strategies in the disability sector, conducting a socio-economic evaluation of Universal Design (UD) in the housing sector, and monitoring national compliance with the EU’s Web Accessibility Directive (WAD). During his time at the NDA David was a member of the National Ability Support System (NASS) Advisory Committee, a member of the Dept. of Social Protection (DSP) Technical Advisory Group on Social Inclusion, and a member of the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) expert group on statistical modelling. He also worked extensively in collaboration with the Central Statistics Office (CSO), the Health Service Executive (HSE) and academic researchers in the design and development of research data and statistical resources.

Prior to working at the NDA David was an economic consultant for Grant Thornton Ireland, where he worked with public sector clients in areas such as economic strategy development and economic appraisals. These projects included Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) of public expenditure proposals, programmatic reviews, strategy reviews, statistical and financial modelling, international trade and customs compliance advisory, Brexit advisory and industrial sector profiling.

Prior to working at Grant Thornton David was employed as the Economist at the Embassy of Japan in Ireland for four years. He was tasked with providing economic research support to the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the diplomatic staff of the Embassy of Japan in Ireland. This role included conducting research on all aspects of the Irish economy including fiscal policy, industrial relations, regulatory policy, social protection, international trade, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), business activity and financial affairs.

David holds a PhD from University College Dublin (UCD) where his doctoral thesis examined the International Political Economy of EU external trade and investment policy. A particular focus of his doctoral research was the role of sectoral interest groups in shaping the negotiation of EU Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs). David previously lectured on the MA/MSc course in International Political Economy (IPE) at University College Dublin (UCD) on an Occasional Lecturer basis. His teaching covered the history of IPE, the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the EU Single Market and Customs Union, EU external trade and investment policy, global trading markets and the illicit IPE.

Email: David.Hallinan@nesc.ie