Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)

I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive statement and for setting it out. I welcome that. I also welcome the policy, which is just the second policy on this in the history of the State. The first policy started in 2019. Significantly, that was the year we promised transformative action and declared a climate and a biodiversity emergency. We never really got that transformative action. I will look at this first and ask maybe some practical questions and then go back to pick up on some of the themes the last speaker spoke about.

The policy was launched a year ago and it has taken us almost longer, a year, to discuss it, which is significant in itself. It is 58 pages long and contains five key objectives and 57 actions. I welcome that there is a stakeholder engagement group to provide oversight. Has that stakeholder engagement group met? If so, how many times has it met? Are minutes available? It is stated that an annual report will be published on the implementation. Has an annual report been published? It is over a year since the strategy was published. Where is the annual report?

Picking up on the previous speaker's contribution, we were promised transformative action, and that transformative action really has not come. I am very positive about this strategy but I am worried about its implementation and about it being sidelined to the main growth economy that results in business as usual. We know from Covid and from the climate emergency that we cannot continue with the same model, with endless growth for growth's sake. There is a complete difference between a growth economy and a thriving economy. The social enterprise and the strategy that the Minister of State has outlined here are not just a small part of that; they have to be a fundamental part of it. It is interesting that we had no figures until 2023, when his Department rightly commissioned a report on the data. It took until 2023 to get that. That gives an indication of how little value we put on social enterprise. That research told us that there were 4,335 social enterprises nationally. The total income of social enterprises in 2021 was €2.34 billion. Almost 85,000 people are employed by social enterprises.

That is 3.7% of the Irish workforce. There is huge scope for an increase in the number of people employed. There are also the volunteers who work alongside them, nearly 75,000, without whom social enterprises could not succeed. Women make up the vast majority, at almost 70% of the total workforce in social enterprises, with 68% concentrated in four sectors: child care, which is dominated by women; community infrastructure and local development; health, youth services and social care; and heritage, festivals, arts and creative industry. All of these areas are vital to a thriving economy. Some 75% of social enterprises focus on a local market. In rural areas, 84% focus on a local market. Last week or the week before - I am losing track of time and dates - I was with the Talamh Beo group, which grows sustainably. Its members pointed out to me that there is no policy for sustainable growth in that manner where they supply the local community, local areas and local businesses. That is a gap. The social enterprise expansion and development, SEED, allocation needs to be looked at and worked on as well. Most staff are employed under community employment schemes or Tús. There have been repeated efforts to reduce the money and importance paid to Tús community employment schemes and rural schemes, which work with very little money and struggle from year to year. I would like to see a transformative change under the Minister of State's watch. He made a good attempt with a very good opening statement. I would like to see it mean something. Transformative action is required so that our rural communities can survive.

A point was made earlier by my colleague in Galway West, Deputy Farrell, about Carraroe having no infrastructure. One might ask what that has to do with social enterprise but if there is no sewage treatment plant to allow houses to be built and for small enterprises to develop, we are in serious trouble. Social enterprises can only come along with basic infrastructure. We have wonderful examples of social enterprises in Galway such as the Galway Artisan Workshop and Bounce Back Recycling in Ballybrit, which does mattress and furniture recycling. Twenty-five years ago, there were presentations in relation to recycling mattresses and many other materials that were never put into action. I welcome that this is happening but the people were way ahead of us in Galway city. We have Galway Online Community Radio, which is really important as a social enterprise. It aims to give ethnic minorities a voice in Irish media. We also have the SCCUL Sanctuary in Clarinbridge - I cannot read them all out - An Mheitheal Rothar and the Galway Community Circus. There is the Green Bean Café in Athenry. All over the islands, there are examples of co-operatives working together for energy or to organise the various schemes that keep the islands going.

The previous speaker said it better than me: my worry is that this is simply looked on as a sideline or an addition. Labour activation schemes are talked about in such narrow terms. Private companies are brought in that should have nothing to do with social enterprises or labour activation schemes. We have seen what happened in England. We put an emphasis on narrow criteria and do not value what social enterprises do for the environment in relation to the sustainable goals, which were laid out by the UN, which we all treasure and must comply with. They have to be mentioned at every opportunity.

I praise the opening statement but I would like to see a hands-on approach. I would also like to see the annual report or a date for it and the published oversight minutes. There have been so many strategies and plans in so many areas without any accountability or constant review. Most of all, I would like to see economists, who treasure their role as economists, put a value on the matters they have put no value on, social enterprise being top of the list. An economy cannot thrive without carers being paid properly. Again, it is dominated by females. The cost of domestic violence to the Exchequer has never been valued. At a conservative estimate, it is €2.5 billion. One might rightly ask what that has to do with social enterprise. It has everything to do with this male-dominated economic view - I apologise; some males - of valuing certain aspects of an economy and ignoring the really important aspects that are never given an economic value.

See this speech in context