Social justice matters. That is why Social Justice Ireland publishes our annual socio-economic review. This book is about charting a course to a fairer Ireland. At the foundation of that is what…
Social Justice Ireland believes strongly in the importance of developing a rights-based approach to social, economic, environmental, and cultural policy. Such an approach would go a long way towards addressing the inequality Ireland has been experiencing and should be at the heart of the development model for a just society. We believe that the next Programme for Government should acknowledge and recognise seven economic, social and cultural rights.
Early childhood is the stage where education can most effectively influence the development of children and help reverse disadvantage. The most striking feature of investment in education in Ireland relative to other OECD countries is its under-investment in early childhood education. High quality educational experiences in early childhood contribute significantly to life-long learning success. This sector needs to be supported by Government, financially and through policy, to ensure that all children have equal access to this success and all of the benefits of quality education.
The Government of the 33rd Dáil won’t be able to solve all Ireland's challenges in just five years, but making the right choices can go a long way to delivering a fairer society with a better standard of living for everyone. This is why the next Programme for Government must deliver on five key areas: a vibrant economy, decent services and infrastructure, just taxation, good governance and sustainability.
The Central Statistics Office recently published the Household Finance and Consumption Survey 2018. This is the only household survey that collects combined information on asset, income and debt levels of Irish households. It provides us with a valuable data and insight into where wealth and assets are concentrated (both in terms of location and income deciles), and the levels of debt of Irish households.
“Economic growth is not an end in itself. An economy must work for the people and the planet.” So begins the European Commission’s Annual Sustainable Growth Strategy, also referred to as the European Green Deal, consisting of four dimensions: environment, productivity, stability and fairness. The Sustainable Development Goals will be “at the heart” of the EU’s policymaking and action to move towards the objective of offering younger generations in Europe a sustainable and prosperous future.
The Government's over-use of the so-called 'money message veto' is undemocratic and is a mis-use of the Constitution. Politicians must distinguish fairly between bills whose primary purpose is to spend money and those which merely include some measure of indirect expenditure at the initial implementation stage.
This paper was presented at our 2021 annual social policy conference 'Social Rights for All? Time to deliver on the European Pillar of Social Rights'. This paper was presented at our 2021 annual…
