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

I propose to take Questions Nos. 14 to 20, inclusive, together.

The National Economic and Social Council advises me on strategic policy issues relating to sustainable, social and environmental development. The NESC is currently working in five main areas. The first is good jobs. The council is examining how good jobs could provide a mechanism to improve worker well-being, drive innovation and enhance productivity. It is expected that the NESC report on this will be completed in quarter 4 of 2023.

The second is climate action, just transition and agriculture. This work explores, in practical terms, how climate targets and the transition they entail for Irish agriculture can be achieved in a manner that encompasses social equity and inclusion, environmental sustainability and economic well-being. The report is expected to be published shortly.

The third is natural capital accounting. This work, which is an action in the current climate action plan, examines how integration of ecosystems accounting can progress. The NESC convened three policy round-table discussions with stakeholders. This NESC report will be completed in quarter 3 of 2023. The NESC continues to engage with the shared island unit. A report on social enterprise was published in late May and includes an overview of the state of social enterprise in Ireland and Northern Ireland and on a shared island basis.

On well-being and inequality, this work examines how Ireland's well-being framework can help identify inequalities and how it can point towards new means of confronting such inequalities. This work will be published shortly. In addition, the NESC was established in 1973, and plans to mark its 50th anniversary with a major conference in the final quarter of this year.

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