Dr. Tadhg O'Mahony:

There was an interesting strand of conversation there. Deputy Coveney mentioned vision and Senator Clonan mentioned "strategic". These are different parts of the policy process. Ms Davidson mentioned working on the what and the how. If we focus on the UN SDGs and the well-being framework, they are indicator frameworks. They are programme evaluation and investment appraisal tools but they do not lead to different policies. They lead to, at the margins, some slightly different conversations but this is about fundamentally different policies. We have to come up with a higher level re-conceptualisation. What are our policy priorities? What policies can potentially achieve this and how can this play out? How can we implement it? What stakeholders do we need on board? Is investment required? If not, what strategy do we need? It is a different process and it is likely that to really make this a substantial commission, it needs something leaning towards what Deputy Coveney mentioned in terms of vision. The well-being framework and the SDGs are definitely useful but they are not tools that allow us to create something different.