Mr. John McGeady:

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gcoiste as ucht an chuiridh. The UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development calls on all nations to combine economic prosperity, social inclusion and environmental sustainability. Only five years remain until the SDG deadline of 2030.

Social Justice Ireland welcomes the 2025 programme for Government commitment to "Implement a Whole-of-Government Strategy to fully integrate the SDGs into national policies and initiatives... [at] all levels of government." Our analysis shows that while Ireland has made some progress, the scale of the challenge facing our country remains substantial. Events over the past few years have highlighted the interdependence of our economic, social and natural spheres. They have also made the achievement of the 2030 agenda and the SDGs even more challenging, both for the EU and globally.

Social Justice Ireland tracks Ireland’s progress on achieving the SDGs annually through our sustainable progress index, which I have shared with members. The 2025 edition of our annual report uses 84 indicators to measure Ireland’s performance across all 17 SDGs and compares our performance with that of our EU14 peers. Those are the 14 EU members we regard as most closely aligned to Ireland in terms of ongoing development. I have shared both our submission and the report. Members can turn to table 1 on page 3 of our submission or to page 72 of the report. They will see that Ireland ranks ninth out of 14 comparable EU countries in this year’s sustainable progress index, meaning we are in the bottom half of the table. The index provides a snapshot of Ireland’s record across three dimensions: economic development, social inclusion and environmental sustainability. There is value in attempting to understand how countries are doing on these three aspects because all are interconnected. If members turn to table 2 on page 4 of our submission or to page 70 of the larger report, they will see the breakdown.

The economy index comprises SDG 8, decent work and economic growth, and SDG 9, industry innovation and infrastructure. The society index comprises eight SDGs that capture the theme of social inclusion. They cover: no poverty; no hunger; good health and well-being; quality education; gender equality; reduced inequalities; peace, justice and strong institutions; and goal 17, partnership for the goals.

The environment index combines seven SDGs. These are clean water and sanitation, affordable and clean energy, sustainable cities and communities, responsible consumption and production, climate action, life below water and life on land. We also provide a ranking for how Ireland is doing on each of these dimensions, as well as overall. In table A1 of our submission and table A2 in the larger report, members can see that on both the social and economic indices Ireland is in the middle of the rankings. We are coming in sixth place for the social index and joint seventh on the economic index. If members turn to table A3, they can see that, unfortunately, Ireland is towards the bottom of the environment index, in 11th place. This highlights that there is a major challenge in meeting our environmental goals and also that we are not top of the class when it comes to our social or economic goals either.

In terms of the strengths, Ireland is in the top five for one third of the SDGs. In six of the 17 SDGs, we are ranking in the top five. We continue to perform well in SDG 4, quality education, where we rank in first place. While Ireland has a reputation for quality education, we do need to give some consideration to the low rate of adult participation in learning and that continues to be a concern. The high score for SDG 11, sustainable cities and communities, is also good. We rank in second place. This indicates that Ireland is a relatively safe place to live with reasonably good, transparent, effective and accountable institutions.

In terms of weaknesses, Ireland is in the bottom five for half of the SDGS, or nine out of the 17. Clearly, there are pressing issues when it comes to environmental sustainability that must be addressed. They are reflected in that we do poorly in five of the seven SDGs that relate to the environment. The low score of 12th place on zero hunger might be a bit unexpected. In an Irish context we focus on malnutrition and the whole question of whether the quality of diet that people are intaking is positive. The obesity rate is a risk on that front, as is the issue of sustainable agriculture and ensuring we have food security in our country. Ireland ranks in tenth place on SDG 9, industry, innovation and infrastructure, which is an economic goal. This points to the fact that we need further policy action when it comes to logistics and broadband capacities, although there have been major improvements on that front. In particular, we need investment in research and development, an area we are falling behind in. Overall, we are failing to balance these core essentials in terms of economic and social progress while at the same time sustaining our environmental commitments and the well-being of our planet and climate.

In the broader European context, it will also be crucial to ensure that the sustainable development goals and the European Pillar of Social Rights are embedded in the practical implementation and realisation of the European Commission’s focus on enhancing competitiveness. This could be supported by the application of an SDG impact assessment, with a particular focus on identifying those potential conflicts that arise when there are competing policy objectives, to ensure there is harmony and policy coherence across all EU decision-making. It is also vital that the core objectives of the EU’s green new deal not be diluted due to this renewed focus on competitiveness. The SDGs can also be used to ensure that a just transition is embedded in EU policy. Of course, we now have a just transition commission up and running in Ireland. We can look at how the SDGs complement the work of the just transition commission as well.

When it comes to the European semester process, it would probably benefit from greater policy coherence between the SDGs, our country reports and our national reform programmes. While sustainable development is addressed in the process, explicit tagging of the SDGs in the country-specific recommendations would further support and enhance this. Social Justice Ireland also sets out a full set of policy recommendations to support Ireland’s implementation of the SDGs in our sustainable progress report, which members have, and also in appendix B. In that we link each of our recommendations to the SDG. We also tag it to the 11 dimensions of the well-being framework that sits in the Department of the Taoiseach. We see a complementarity between that and the SDGs.

I am happy to address any questions members may have and I thank them for their time.