Joint Committee on Social Protection, Community and Rural Development and the Islands publishes report on sustainable development goals

In September 2020, motions were passed in Dáil and Seanad Éireann instructing Departmental Committees to include consideration of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in their respective work programmes.

The Committee understands the importance of the SDGs and included consideration of the SDGs in its 2023 work programme.

There are five strategic objectives in the National Implementation Plan for the Sustainable Development Goals 2022-2024. The first of these is “To embed the SDG framework into the work of Government Departments to achieve greater policy coherence for sustainable development.”

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, published by the United Nations, acknowledges the essential role of national parliaments in ensuring accountability for effective implementation of our SDG commitments.

The Committee has made 17 recommendations for both departments within its remit and across the whole of government. The Committee would welcome a response to this report from both the lead departments and the key stakeholder departments as referenced throughout this report.

Speaking on the launch of the report, Committee Cathaoirleach Deputy Denis Naughten said:
“The sustainable development goals are really about getting governments and society to think and act differently. It is not about ideology but about implementation in real and practical terms and breaking away from the old, siloed thinking that says a matter is someone else's problem or, worse, that a body does not have any solutions”

“We are now in an exciting point in the development of our country and we need to look to the future development of this as a big community, rather than a big economy. Delivering on the SDGs can help us to achieve the objective of developing our public service to think differently”

The Committee appointed the Leas-Chathaoirleach, Deputy Marc Ó Cathasaigh, as rapporteur, to deliver this report, which includes productive recommendations for these Departments to take on board.
Speaking on the launch of the report, Deputy Marc Ó Cathasaigh said: “The Sustainable Development Goals, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, are a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and planet, a roadmap for how we might all, as a global community, live better together on an equitable basis. They commit us to tackling poverty, hunger and inequality while promoting sustainable prosperity in a way that respects our planetary boundaries and the shared natural world that sustains us.”

“The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), underpinned by 169 targets, are a pledge to leave nobody behind while reaching the furthest behind first. Ireland played a central role in the negotiation of the SDGs in 2015 and again in the agreement of the Political Declaration in September of this year. In his speech to the UN, the Taoiseach recommitted Ireland to Agenda 2030, saying ‘It must become more than a piece of paper – as Leaders it is our solemn responsibility to breathe life into it.’

“This report details the work of this committee in holding our respective departments to account in their progressing of those goals and targets assigned to them in the Policy Map. We hope that this will be part of a repeated and iterative process whereby we strengthen and embed the role of the Sustainable Development Goals as a tool for effective and cross-cutting policy-making, not just in the Departments of Social Protection and Rural and Community Development and Islands, but across government.”

The report makes 17 recommendations:

The Committee recommends that reporting on the progress in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals on the Islands should be conducted as a separate exercise, with consideration to the broader range of goals and targets that might be applicable in this setting.

 - The Committee recommends that particular focus be given to the area of Lifelong Learning in order to increase participation rates.

 - The Committee recommends continued focus on the roll out of rural broadband to bridge the digital divide, with particular attention paid to the issue of fibre connectivity to the mainland as it pertains to the islands.

 - The Committee recommends the specific actions are undertaken to address skills deficits that persist among certain groups, older people and those with lower educational attainment in particular, to prevent the widening of the digital divide and ensure equitable access to the benefits of digital participation.

 - The Committee recommends that the expanded possibilities presented by digital connection and satellite education be explored with a view to providing a broader range of subject choice at secondary level for students attending smaller rural or island schools.

 - The Committee recommends that delivery and the vindication of the Sustainable Development Goals are given a central position in the second National Social Enterprise policy.

 - The Committee recommends continued investment in remote working facilities in rural areas and on the islands to promote productive activities and job creation in those areas.

 - The Committee recommends that the government continue to support the creation of jobs in the Green Economy and further explores the potential for job creation in the Blue Economy.

 - The Committee recommends that research be undertaken to identify how the effective separation of waste streams can be improved in order to support the development of the Circular Economy.

 - The Committee recommends that adequate training and support be provided to those community structures, Tidy Towns, PPNs and Town Teams among them, who play a role in communicating the SDGs to our communities in order for them to discharge that role more effectively.

 - The Committee recommends that the provisions in the Sustainable, Inclusive and Empowered Communities five-year strategy as they relate to the communication and implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals be implemented in full.

 - The Committee recommends that social welfare rates should be benchmarked against a minimum standard such as the MESL and indexed to preserve the spending power of people on fixed incomes over time.
 

- The Committee recommends that the CSO present more disaggregated data to make clearer the progress being made in tackling poverty across particular groups in our society to ensure that we are achieving a key priority in the SDGs of reaching the farthest behind first.

 - The Committee recommends further research be conducted on the topic of income adequacy among those on fixed incomes in rural areas, with specific attention given to the issues of transport deprivation and fuel poverty.

 - The Committee recommends that the Connecting Ireland policy is accelerated in order to tackle the issue of transport deprivation among people living in rural areas, thereby increasing their access to a range of other essential services.

 - The Committee recommends that further financial supports be made available to counteract the additional transport costs of living on an island, from personal transport to freight and carriage costs.

 - The Committee supports the expansion of the Hot School Meals programme as an effective anti-poverty measure