Written answers

Wednesday, 4 May 2022

Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment

Sustainable Development Goals

Photo of James LawlessJames Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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73. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the way that he can support businesses in Ireland to contribute to the delivery of the goals and targets in the United Nations sustainable development goals; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21972/22]

Photo of Leo VaradkarLeo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is a significant and ambitious policy agenda that concerns all Government Departments. The first National Implementation Plan, published in 2018, set out Ireland’s strategy to achieve the SDGs both domestically and internationally. Substantial progress has been achieved in recent months in respect of reviewing Ireland’s implementation of Agenda 2030 and identifying key priorities and actions for inclusion in the next National Implementation Plan. It is intended that the second national implementation plan will be published in the coming months.

My Department recognises the key role that businesses play in achieving sustainable development. Business and industry are one of the 2030 Agenda’s nine “Major Groups” which play a crucial role in sustainable development, underlining the importance of engaging with this sector and ensuring that they are supported in progressing the work of the SDGs.

The business sector is essential for the achievement of Irelands SDG targets and is explicitly linked to a number of SDGs such as Goal 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) and Goal 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production). Further, the majority of SDGs are reliant on business sector contribution. For example, business policies and practices play an integral part to the achievement of goals such as gender equality (Goal 5) and climate action (Goal 13).

Feedback received during the consultation process for the second national SDG implementation plan indicated a greater desire in the business community for engagement with the goals. Businesses also expressed an interest in the development of a mechanism for the sector to report on their current work and contribute to the progression of Irelands goals and targets. Based on this feedback, one of the actions envisaged under the forthcoming second implementation plan will be the exploration and development of a suitable mechanism or forum to facilitate and support the business sector in their contribution to the delivery of goals and targets.

In addition, my Department has begun initial discussions with the UN Global Compact regarding the establishment of a network here in Ireland. The Compact supports businesses globally to align their work with ten principles on human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption, as well as advance the SDGs. The establishment of an Irish network would be a positive development for encouraging sustainable practice among Irish enterprise in making progress towards the Sustainable Development Goal targets, and it is something which the Department will work to facilitate.

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