Social enterprises are businesses that work primarily to improve the lives of people, with any surpluses generated re-invested into achieving their core social objectives.
They frequently work to support disadvantaged groups such as the long-term unemployed, people with disabilities, and the Traveller community, or to address issues such as food poverty, social housing, or environmental matters.
One of my main priorities to underpin the development of policy for social enterprise has been to improve data collection and availability relating to the sector in Ireland and the areas in which social enterprises operate.
My Department commissioned ‘Social Enterprises in Ireland: A Baseline Data Collection Exercise’ which I launched last month and which is available on the Department's website.
The key data identified as a result of this work includes:
• there are 4,335 social enterprises in Ireland employing 84,382 people.
• there are 74,824 volunteers in social enterprises including 30,324 board members.
• the total income of social enterprise amounts to €2.34 Billion.
This research marks the just the first dedicated data collection exercise in relation to social enterprises and further work will take place into the future to track the development and impact of the sector over time.
Another recent report ‘Social Enterprise on the Island of Ireland’ published by the NESC recognises the growing significance of social enterprise nationally and internationally.
I am determined to support social enterprises to grow in scale, support employment, and to make a positive impact to individuals and society in both rural and urban areas. To this end, my Department has also commissioned an OECD to report on the implementation of social enterprise policy in Ireland and boosting social enterprise development in Ireland. This report is due to be finalised shortly.
In recent months, my Department has been engaging extensively with key stakeholders to develop a successor to Ireland's first National Social Enterprise Policy. I plan to publish the new social enterprise policy later this year and the evidence base the above referenced reports provide will be integral to its development. The new policy will build on the progress made since the first policy in 2019, and will provide a framework to support the further development of this important sector.
