Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party)
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329. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will provide an update on work towards achieving the SDG targets; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11426/23]

Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), is a significant and ambitious framework, adopted by the world's leaders at the UN in 2015. The Government has taken a whole-of-Government approach to its implementation.

Ireland’s Second National Implementation Plan for the SDGs, 2022 – 2024, was published in October 2022. It was developed by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications in collaboration with all Government Departments, key stakeholder. There was also input from two public consultation processes. A key objective of the Plan is to achieve greater policy coherence for Sustainable Development with the aim of accelerating achievement of the SDGs at all levels of Government.

The Plan is supplemented by two supporting documents: an SDG policy map which identifies the lead Departments and relevant national policies for each of the 169 SDG targets; and a Policy Update document which provides policy updates for each of the targets. These documents are available at: www.gov.ie/sdgs

The Central Statistics Office, in collaboration with all Government Departments, has prepared a series of statistical publications which monitor and report on how Ireland is progressing towards meeting its targets under the 17 SDGs. Reports are available for SDGs 1 – 16 and can be found at: www.cso.ie/en/statistics/unsustainabledevelopmentgoals/

Ireland will present its second Voluntary National Review of progress to the United Nations High-Level Political Forum in New York in July 2023. The VNR report will comprise a high-level data section and a more detailed appendix reporting on progress towards achieving the goals and targets.

The Department of Foreign Affairs leads Ireland's international efforts toward the SDGs. The Government's international development programme. A Better World, fully integrates the SDGs, with headline priorities to reduce humanitarian need, support climate action, promote gender equality and strengthen governance, and the overarching ambition to reach the furthest behind first.

We provide official development assistance (ODA) to support the most vulnerable people in more than 130 countries. Ireland’s ODA budget has grown from €792 million in 2018 to €1.233 billion in 2023, a 56% increase. The OECD Development Assistance Committee concluded in 2020 that “Ireland is a strong voice for sustainable development, leading and supporting policy dialogue at both international and local levels."

Ireland also supports the achievement of the SDGs through our international policy engagement on human rights, civic space and multilateralism.