Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 7, inclusive, together.

Ireland's well-being framework is a Government initiative to measure progress and policy impact in Ireland in a more holistic way. The framework consists of 11 dimensions that reflect different aspects of well-being. It is supported by a dashboard hosted by the Central Statistics Office and composed of 35 indicators that bring together economic, social and environmental statistics in an integrated way. Each year, an Understanding Life in Ireland report is published, which assesses Ireland's well-being performance across these 35 indicators. An updated analysis will be published before the summer.

The 2024 assessment shows that Ireland's overall performance is positive, particularly in the areas of work and job quality, and social connections and community. Only one of the 11 dimensions, the environment, climate and biodiversity dimension, showed a negative performance. The analysis also highlights that there is more work to be done. In particular, there are some groups in our society for whom progress is unequal across multiple areas of well-being, including people with long-term illness or disability, single-parent households, households with lower incomes and households in rented accommodation.

To assist expenditure decisions, we continue to integrate the framework into the budgetary process. The well-being framework was featured at last year's national economic dialogue and as part of the summer economic statement. The well-being framework was also part of the analysis underpinning budget 2025. This included analysis of the dashboard in budget-day documentation and a paper showing how selected expenditure measures in budget 2025 are enhancing well-being, published by the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform.

Across government, Departments are working to use the well-being framework for policy development and decision-making. I believe the well-being framework is a useful tool which can help us to better understand the economic, social and environmental impact of policy decisions.

See this speech in context