Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 19 to 25, inclusive, together.

The Wellbeing Policy Statement and Framework for Practice is a programme for Government commitment to measure how we are doing overall as a country and to improve our understanding of quality of life in Ireland. It does this by bringing economic, societal and environmental outcomes together under one framework. It places a particular focus on equality and sustaining well-being into the future. The framework provides a multidimensional picture of quality of life in Ireland. It covers 11 dimensions, including areas like mental and physical health, income and wealth, the environment and safety. Analysis of the framework takes place annually. This analysis assesses Ireland's progress over time in comparison to other EU countries and with reference to equality and sustainability.

Last year, the well-being framework featured as part of the national economic dialogue, the summer economic statement and expenditure reports. It was also part of a new budget day document, Budget 2023: Beyond GDP - Quality of Life Assessment. An updated analysis of the framework will be published ahead of the next national economic dialogue and budget cycle. Work is ongoing to further integrate the framework into policy making. This includes work by the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform to embed a well-being perspective into expenditure and evaluation decisions. What has been accomplished in Ireland over a short period of time compares very favourably with other countries as we continue to learn from the experience of leaders in this area. We believe the framework can help policymakers to make decisions to improve quality of life beyond economic growth alone.

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