Ms Hannah Gilmartin:

I thank the Deputy for his question. I will definitely look into this legislation. Within the new national implementation plan, there is an obligation on all Departments to include the SDGs within their statements of strategy, in addition to their annual reports. This was included in the previous plan, but it was not reported on or monitored as closely it should have been. Going forward, therefore, we will have clear reporting structures in place. All Departments will be asked to report back regarding whether they have done this and, if so, how they have done it. We are working with the IDWG on this aspect now. Many statements of strategy have come in to us recently, so we are ensuring to provide the observation that this obligation must be met. The IDWG is aware of this point. These are key instruments that we want to make use of. As we go forward, as well, we are gaining more knowledge of the best practice of how to do this and sharing this with other Departments. They will now have a better sense of what we are looking for as well. We will be progressing this aspect.