Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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172. To ask the Taoiseach the details of the social impact assessments carried out by his Department and public bodies and agencies under his remit since 1 January 2016. [37301/21]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Cabinet Handbook requires that Memorandums for the Government should indicate clearly the impacts of the proposal under a number of headings, including employment; gender equality; poverty or social exclusion; people with disabilities; and rural communities. In addition, when conducting a Regulatory Impact Analysis, the impact of the legislative proposal, including the costs and benefits of each option, must be considered under various headings including the impact on the socially excluded or vulnerable groups.

My Department has led the co-ordination of the Government's response to COVID-19 throughout the pandemic.

As part of this, my Department prepared three Reports on the Social Implications of COVID-19 in Ireland, which were published on Gov.ie.

Throughout the pandemic, Government decision-making on public health measures has been informed by public health, economic and social considerations with inputs from across Government to understand and assess both the impacts of the pandemic and the impacts of the restrictions imposed to manage it.