The latest NESC report, Digital Inclusion in Ireland: Connectivity, Devices & Skills, focuses on Digital Inclusion - what it is and why it's important. This Report provides key information for policymakers as we consider the world of work, education and social inclusion in an increasingly digital age.

How we plan our finances, and what we choose to prioritise, post-Covid-19, will have profound implications for the future of our economy and society. To this end Social Justice Ireland proposed to the Select Committee on Budgetary Oversight that the priorities for Budget 2022 should be adequate social welfare rates and poverty reduction, just taxation, housing for all and tackling unemployment. 

The issue of child poverty is again prominent in the European Commission agenda, with the publication of the Council Recommendation for Establishing a European Child Guarantee. In order to be successful, increased political focus is required and children must be at the heart of post-Covid recovery plans.  Increased European and national funding is also a prerequisite for success. 

Ireland has a lot of work to do to meet our 2030 targets. The Energy Charter Treaty (the Treaty) could hamper our progress even further. In 2018, Ireland was the first country in the world to divest from fossil fuels, however the Treaty will lock-in billions of euros worth of investments in oil, coal and gas. In Europe alone, the fossil infrastructure protected by the Treaty amounts to €344.6 billion – more than twice the EU annual budget. Social Justice Ireland, along with other international NGOs and civil society organisations has signed a statement asking the EU to pull out of the Treaty on environmental protection grounds.