Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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317. To ask the Minister for Finance the progress made by his Department in respect of targets and goals set out in sustainable development goals of the 2030 United Nations Agenda for Sustainable Development under the policy remit of his Department; and if these targets and goals will be met by their respective deadlines. [12902/23]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I would like to thank the Deputy for his question and the opportunity it affords me to outline Ireland’s approach to the SDGs and that of my department.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is a significant and ambitious framework. A whole-of-Government approach to its implementation has been taken in Ireland.

Ireland’s Second National Implementation Plan for the Sustainable Development Goals, 2022 – 2024 was published in October 2022. The Plan was developed by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications in collaboration with all Government Departments, key stakeholders, and based on input from two public consultation processes. A key objective of the Plan is to achieve greater policy Coherence for Sustainable Development (PCSD) with the aim of accelerating achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (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 these 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 on the central statistics website.

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

The whole-of-Government approach to implementation of the SDGs means all Ministers are responsible for implementing the SDGs related to their functions. The Department of Finance has been assigned responsibility for a number of goals and sub-targets, spanning from promoting inclusive economic growth to building partnerships for sustainable development.

As the Deputy will note, the targets assigned to the Department of Finance as either lead or stakeholder and my Department has published these obligations online at www.gov.ie/en/publication/032fa-sustainable-development-goals/ .

In line with Action 4 of the first National Implementation Plan my Department’s Statement of Strategy 2021-2023 makes specific reference to our SDG targets (available at the following link: assets.gov.ie/122270/1d8bd1ca-295f-42b2-9998-1c83ae04e716.pdf The Statement plays an important role in the delivery of policy objectives insofar as it provides a framework to translate such objectives into policies and operational business plans designed to achieve implementation. My Department's obligations in respect of the achievement of SDGs have therefore been embedded within the fabric of how it does its business. It is my hope that these steps towards enhanced policy coherence, alignment and mainstreaming of SDGs into policy areas will contribute to an accelerated progression towards SDG implementation.

Moving forward, I can assure the Deputy of my Department’s continued focus and commitment to the whole of Government approach in the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.