Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the recognition of the SWITCH model which has been used to date. While it captures the distributive effects, it misses many other social impacts, as we have been flagging. I know that it has been flagged by the community and voluntary pillar to a significant extent. We need to look beyond the distributive effects and consider the social impacts. In terms of their assessment, has consideration been given to the micro-simulation model? For example, it took a long time to have a micro-simulation carried out on austerity measures introduced in Ireland. We were of the view that certain issues were not being captured in social impact assessments or under the SWITCH model. The micro-simulation process revealed certain measures had a disproportionate impact on women. For example, women who were part of a couple suffered a loss of 14% in their income, as against a figure of 9% loss by men during the period of the austerity measures. The process also provided an opportunity to dive into some of the causes and consider how they might be addressed.

I am happy not to press the recommendation. However, I hope that, in addition to introducing the new social impact assessment, the Minister of State will be able to indicate whether his Department is open to Senators engaging on the form the social impact assessment will take as there are many options available in order to make sure it will produce the information and data we need. That is very important because there are gaps in the data. In the end, it will come down to each Department identifying and tackling equality issues. This process has been successful in Scotland and it is interesting that equality budgeting is now considered to be part of the preventative spending process there. It is used to identify how money can be spent better to prevent costs from arising in the future because equality budgeting leads to better outcomes for all in society and more effective use of resources. There is an understanding and an intention in that regard.

I have a minor technical question. How many Departments does the Minister of State expect to pilot this initiative heading into the next budgetary cycle?Can the Minister of State confirm that his Department is open to engaging further with the social impact assessment proposals?