The Programme for Government contained several commitments which, if fully resourced and implemented, would represent significant steps towards creating a fairer and more just Ireland. As we emerge into a new post-Covid reality, our latest National Social Monitor looks at whether Government is delivering on its commitments in key areas and suggests that, so far, Government’s achievements are not matching its commitments.
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 2020 United Nations Human Development Report is written in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, a virus that quickly spread around the globe due to our increasingly interconnected world, but whose impacts have very different consequences for wealthier nations.
According to Globescan Sustainability Survey of 500 experts representing business, goverment, NGOs and academia across 75 countries, Climate Change is the most urgent of the 17 SDGs. Unfortunately, Ireland continues to lag behind our EU15 peers in addressing this crisis.
In its annual Socio-Economic Review Social Justice Ireland argues that fundamental changes are required if Ireland is to have a fair recovery post-pandemic. Returning to pre-Covid normal would mean failure. A new Social Contract is needed and it can be developed and delivered.
In this socio-economic review for 2021 Social Justice Ireland presents a detailed analysis of a range of key matters which are central to social justice; a vision of Ireland’s…
At the European level, what the pandemic has cast doubt on is the very fundamentals of European integration. The main features of the European Union, what could be described as its “pillars”, are these: the single market and freedom of movement, the euro and the Stability and Growth Pact, and competition and state-aid law. We can already look ahead and see that the post-crisis EU could be standing on very different foundations if the questioning of the three basic pillars continues over time or, conversely, it could just as easily go back to its old ways. What will the world environment in which this happens be, though? Here there are four possible scenarios emerging.
If Ireland is to succeed in addressing the challenges we are faced with, the pathway to doing so must be founded on consensus, must be well-managed, and must be properly evaluated. A deliberative decision-making process, involving all stakeholders and founded on reasoned, evidence-based debate is required.
'Building a New Social Contract – Policy Recommendations’ contains more than eighty specific policy recommendations that would go a considerable direction towards a new social contract to improve the quality of life and wellbeing of everyone and ensure that a no-one is left behind as our economy and society recovers from the impact of Covid-19.
On Wednesday, 18th November 2020, Social Justice Ireland held our Annual Social Policy Conference by webinar. This year's theme was 'A New Social Contract, A New Social Dialogue: Building a Better Future'. In case you missed it (or you'd like to revisit the presentations), the videos, papers and graphic reports are all available now.
