Ms Karen Ciesielski:

One of the main weaknesses or barriers our colleagues in Chambers Ireland referred to is that the SDGs are not being used as a policymaking tool. They are being applied retrospectively, as Deputy Ó Cathasaigh said. Let us look at our food system, for example. If we were to take it seriously and say we want to achieve a sustainable food system that looks at life on land, life below water, inland water bodies and air quality, it would fundamentally alter the way we produce and consume food. The key to unlocking SDG achievements is to use it before policy making as opposed to afterwards, seeing which ones we can apply through a particular policy.