Ms Hannah Gilmartin:

Yes. I will speak first and then hand over to members of the policy teams. While we are the SDG unit and look after national implementation, we also lead on it within the Department, so I can cover both aspects and then pass over to others.

To date, the SDG framework has not been used as a tool for informing the development of policy as much as it should have been, but it is the key priority under the national implementation plan. We used the SDG assessment tool to inform the development of the climate action plan and, going forward, we are planning to use it prospectively. The advantage of this is that certain targets should be met by all policies in terms of proofing against inequality of outcomes and promoting gender inequality. We will be working towards a training course and toolkit for civil servants. That toolkit will contain an information checklist of what someone needs to do to ensure that the framework is fully considered within a policy and what considerations need to be taken into account in respect not only of the targets, but also the general principles of Agenda 2030 for sustainable development, one of which is that no one should be left behind. The Senator is aware that we have been focusing on this principle recently, and we will incorporate guidance on what needs to be considered in a policy if it is to follow it. Our work in this regard is in progress.

The Senator asked whether there were discussions on which Department would be lead. The policy map is updated annually. We updated it in October at the same time as we published the new national implementation plan. There are ongoing conversations with Departments about who should lead on which targets, so it is a live document and is not stale by any means.

If anyone else wishes to contribute, I will speak about the budgetary process afterwards.