Mr. David Donoghue:

I do not wish to talk about the role of the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications but the Senator is absolutely right to highlight the issue of homelessness as something which the SDGs must tackle. I had some responsibility for putting the concept of leaving no one behind into the SDGs document. It was agreed by all countries that they would leave no one behind.

What we meant by that was that the most marginalised groups in every society would be given priority. We even added a sentence which was agreed to by everybody that we will try to reach those who are furthest behind first. There was a very clear commitment made that the most impoverished and disadvantaged groups would be given top priority. Whether that has happened is open to debate, to put it mildly, but at least it is a central part of the SDGs. They refer to it as the leave no one behind agenda. That is my only comment on that matter. It will be for others to speak about what Ireland is doing in that respect.

The Summit of the Future, to which Ms Carmody referred, is a meeting that will be convened by the UN Secretary General in September. It is not about the SDGs as such, but it will be relevant to the SDGs because various policy initiatives will be announced there in areas such as digitalisation, development and finance, which are intended to help countries to implement the SDGs. Strictly speaking, it is a separate exercise, but there will be a document called the Pact for the Future, which will try to show more clearly how we will achieve the SDGs without in any way reopening or rewriting the SDGs. There was a little sensitivity for a year or two while the developing countries came to terms with the Summit of the Future. They were afraid it was an attempt to somehow bypass the SDGs. The developing countries are deeply attached to the SDGs. They do not want anything that might call them into question, but that doubt has been resolved. The summit in September will show more clearly what can be done by way of resources, new technologies, AI, etc., to advance the SDGs.