ADR Northern Ireland
This has been a year of both obstacles and opportunities for ADR NI. The sad passing of ADRC NI's inimitable Director, Professor Dermot O'Reilly, in October 2023, was a challenge for all of us. However, in the spirit of Dermot, we have been working hard to deliver high-quality, policy-relevant research and data access to improve the lives of people in Northern Ireland and continue his legacy.
With this year’s restoration of the Northern Ireland Assembly, after almost two years, comes a renewed opportunity to influence policymaking and service provision. ADRC NI researchers have been busy presenting at All Party Groups and helping to craft a letter to the Minister for Health on research and data, for example on investing in the unique Northern Ireland Registry of Self-Harm (NIRSH). NISRA researchers have also delivered comprehensive findings on pay gaps analyses. The team’s research findings continue to address important evidence gaps for policymakers and inform emerging strategies of the restored NI Executive.
The ADRC NI team has also continued to develop their work with experts by experience. In February 2024, the Data Research Advisory Group, a group of care experienced young people, won a National Care Day Award for their work co-producing research on the mental health of children and young people known to social services with ADRC NI researchers. Building on connections established and nurtured by their former Director, ADRC NI continues to champion the voices of those with lived experience of relevant issues within data-driven research.
NISRA has continued to drive forward data acquisition developments, including the delivery of a rich new research resource in the area of business, Business Data for Research 2021. There has been significant progress, with data due to be available to researchers imminently, in the areas of:
- income (Cross Government Income Administrative Dataset)
- population (Census 2021 Comprehensive Microdata)
- agriculture (Administrative Data | Agricultural Research Collection)
- education (through the enhancement of the existing Education Outcomes Linkage dataset.
Substantial progress has also been made on Northern Ireland Longitudinal Education Outcomes, which involves the development of data linkages relating to education, training and further pathways.
NISRA successfully undertook its five-year accreditation in May 2024 under the Digital Economy Act 2017. This enables NISRA to act in the preparation and provision of data in the secure environment for the purposes of research. This was after securing its annual re-accreditation in 2023.
This has been a challenging year for ADRC NI, with the loss of our dear friend and colleague, Professor Dermot O'Reilly, but I am proud of the entire ADRC NI team, from professional services to researchers to research leads, and how they have pulled together during a difficult time. We are all determined to carry on the work that was so important to Dermot. Stepping into the role as Director of ADRC NI, I hope to continue to build on his legacy, realising the potential for evidence informed practice and policy through utilising linked administrative data and encouraging the next generation of administrative data researchers in Northern Ireland.
The ADR NI Partnership made considerable progress this year, even as we came to terms with the sad loss of Professor Dermot O’Reilly. Work to make new business, household income and education data available to researchers has progressed, and our research has highlighted key labour market inequalities and the need for policy to address them. I am looking forward to our data developments in 2024-25, particularly the NI Longitudinal Education Outcomes, and our research which evidences how administrative data can inform policy.
Research into homelessness
The personal, social, health and economic costs of homelessness are significant. ADRC NI is working with the Northern Ireland Housing Executive to link its extensive and high-quality data on homelessness in NI to a range of demographic, area-level, health, social services and mortality data. This is the first linkage of its kind to be carried out for research purposes.
This study has the potential to increase understanding about the characteristics, predictors, needs and outcomes of the homeless population in Northern Ireland. It is hoped that the results may contribute to facilitating further cross-departmental integration and commitment to developing support for homeless households with complex needs.
ADRC NI is also developing its involvement work with people with lived experience of homelessness, to better inform the research and its potential impact on policy, services, and people's lives.
Improving outcomes in the prison population
A new focus for ADR NI has been criminal justice. NISRA-based researchers are exploring the deaths of ex-prisoners, focusing on the first year after release from prison. The study uses a bespoke linkage between prisons data and death registration data from the General Registrar’s Office.
In partnership with the Health in Prisons Service, ADRC NI researchers are developing a new linked dataset and research programme to improve understanding of people’s experiences during incarceration and following release from prison, including their:
- health and mental health
- health service use
- mortality risk.
This is the first time data from the Health in Prisons Service is being linked to other data on mortality, prescriptions and mental ill-health. The new dataset will provide a rich resource to help researchers, policymakers and service providers to better understand these issues within the prison population. Key to this project is the close working relationship between the Health in Prisons Service and ADRC NI, who share the goal of improving policy and practice and, eventually, outcomes for people living in prison and following their release.
Disability and gender pay gaps
In February 2024, NISRA-based researchers published comprehensive insights into disability pay gaps. This was followed by a research report into gender pay gaps in August 2024. The studies used the Earnings and Employment Study 2011 to assess the median pay for employees with and without a disability, and for males and females, exploring the characteristics that were driving these differences.
These reports aimed to provide important new information on the different dimensions of disability, gender and employment. These insights will be valuable in supporting the development of social inclusion strategies led by the Department for Communities and the Department for Economy, in particular the Disability Strategy, the Disability and Work Strategy and the Gender Equality Strategy.
About ADR Northern Ireland
Administrative Data Research Northern Ireland (ADR NI) is a partnership between the Administrative Data Research Centre Northern Ireland (ADRC NI), comprising Queen’s University Belfast and Ulster University, and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA). Together they support the acquisition, linking and analysis of administrative datasets, developing cutting-edge research to improve knowledge, policy making and public service delivery.