Mr. J.P. Mulherin:

Those are very interesting points about trying to link the SDGs to the application processes we have. Where we see it happening at a local level is very much driven by the local economic community plans that are developed by the local community development committees. As part of the planning process at a local level, there is focus under the guidelines to link those plans to the SDGs. As groups are making applications under various funding proposals, there is always the onus to link it back to the local economic and community plan so that the projects we are funding are based in that planning process.

There is that direct link back. There are more specific examples as well. For instance, the Tidy Towns grant that we give to Tidy Towns groups around the country has a very specific reference to try to deliver on the sustainable development goals, SDGs. Perhaps there is more we can do to mention the SDGs directly in our application process.

We are very cognisant of climate change as part of the delivery of the Our Rural Future policy. There are a number of recommendations that are linked to the cross-government response which are linked to climate change. Last year, there was a rural ideas forum where we brought stakeholders together to look at how climate change is impacting on rural communities and we looked at things that need to be done to try to address that. As part of the new Town Centres First policy that was launched last year, there was a commitment within that to look at developing toolkits to assist towns and to address issues that are being brought to bear as a result of climate change.

More specifically, there is funding available for communities to address these issues. For example, the leader programme has a team that is very directly linked with the environment and with climate change. Another programme we deliver, which the committee may be familiar with, is the outdoor recreation infrastructure scheme. There is a requirement there for organisations that are seeking funding to look at biodiversity measures that could be put in place as part of any changes introduced on walking trails or mountain pathways that may be funded under that programme.

The Senator also mentioned the development of new policy. It is clear across the Department that the sustainable development goals are very much front and centre in the policies that have been developed within the Department. As I mentioned at the outset, there is a clear link in Our Rural Future, for example, between each of the actions and each of the sustainable development goals. For us that is the starting point but it is a very important mechanism for us to be able to link back and when we are measuring the outcome from that policy we can link the actions directly back to the SDGs so we can see what has been achieved.

A policy we are developing within the Department at the moment is the second national social enterprise policy. For us, social enterprises are very much inherently delivering on the sustainable development goals given their social and environmental objectives. There is lots of discussion happening at the moment about how the SDGs will inform the development of that policy. Even at an international level, the Department has been party to discussions at OECD level around how social enterprises and the social economy can contribute to the development of the SDGs. A statement has been developed along those lines, to which Ireland contributed, to try to bring that focus to social enterprise and the role they can play in delivering on the sustainable development goals. Hopefully this addresses at least some of the Senator's questions.