Draft Framework for Sustainable Development for Ireland: NESC Response (126)
The Department of Environment, Community and Local Government (DECLG) presented its Draft Framework for Sustainable Development for Ireland (FSDI) for consideration by the NESC Council at the December 2011 meeting.The Councils discussion of the FSDI, in December 2011 and January 2012, brought to the fore a range of issues. This report does not outline in any detail the specific comments of Council members. Instead, the Councils focus here is on the characteristic of the FSDI that has prompted many of members concerns and questions, namely the encompassing nature of the FSDI. Paradoxically, this feature is also seen by the Council as one of the key strengths of the FSDI.
Promoting Economic Recovery and Employment in Ireland (125)
Austerity on its own will not be enough, additional policy initiatives are needed to promote economic growth and employment. The search for practical measures must be relentless and must engage the entire policy system and all economic and social organisations. The Irish National Economic and Social Council, today, argue that current policies will not, on their own or as currently designed, be sufficient to promote an acceptable recovery of the economy and employment.
Quality and Standards in Human Services in Ireland: Overview of Concepts and Practice (124)
High quality public services demand much more than minimum compliance with rules and regulations. For human services, such as eldercare and disability, we need to use regulation and standards that focus on performance and outcomes.
Supports and Services for Unemployed Jobseekers: Challenges and Opportunities in a Time of Recession (123)
Irelands labour market will take years to recover from the massive contraction that has occurred in the economy. Males, young people, low skilled workers and nationals from the recent EU Accession States have borne the brunt of the collapse in employment. Compared to previous recessions, more among the unemployed today have good levels of education, skills, and extensive work experience. The share of total unemployment that is long term is relentlessly rising. Significant groups do not appear on the Live Register, notably the unemployed self-employed and people who have exhausted their entitlement to Jobseekers Benefit and whose spouses/partners continue to earn. These aspects require changes in approach if supports and services are to reach unemployed people and prevent them being scarred for the rest of their lives by their current unemployment.
Secretariat Paper 1_Irelands Economic Recovery: An Analysis and Exploration
The NESC Secretariat today argues that there are signs of economic recovery. However, to sustain and deepen recovery Ireland must continue to improve its underlying debt dynamics.
Well-being Matters: A Social Report for Ireland - Volume 2 (119)
In this report, Well-being Matters: A Social Report for Ireland, the NESC calls for a broader understanding of social progress while dealing with the relevance of well-being in a recession and crisis. There is growing international interest in measures of well-being beyond GDP. This NESC report is the first major application of well-being to chart social progress in Ireland. The report tracks trends across six aspects of people's lives: their economic resources, their work and education, their relationships and care, their community and environment, their health and their social values.
Well-being Matters: A Social Report for Ireland - Volume 1 (119)
In this report, Well-being Matters: A Social Report for Ireland, the NESC calls for a broader understanding of social progress while dealing with the relevance of well-being in a recession and crisis. There is growing international interest in measures of well-being beyond GDP. This NESC report is the first major application of well-being to chart social progress in Ireland. The report tracks trends across six aspects of people's lives: their economic resources, their work and education, their relationships and care, their community and environment, their health and their social values.
Ireland's Five-Part Crisis: an Integrated National Response (118)
The National Economic & Social Council (NESC) calls for an integrated national response to the current crisis. Such a response, the Council argues, must be widely understood, command support and, most importantly engage the ability and energy of the Irish people.The Council's analysis suggests that Ireland faces not one but five closely-related crises: a banking crisis; a fiscal crisis; an economic crisis of competitiveness and job losses; a social crisis of unemployment, income loss and indebtedness; and a reputational crisis.
The Irish Economy in the Early 21st Century (Report 117)
Ireland's economy in the early twenty-first century is in transition to a new phase in its development. A combination of factors in 2008 is creating a particularly difficult policy context in which to continue managing this transition. The vulnerabilities that are present must not distract attention from the policies and actions that matter most for economic prosperity and well-being in the long-term.
NESC Strategy 2006: People, Productivity and Purpos (Report 114)
Strong population growth, the result of rising births and in-migration, was recorded in the 2002 Census and has been continuing since. The CSO projects that the population will grow by at least 25 per cent over the period 2006-2036. Because of uncertainty about future migration, the CSO makes a range of projections, and these vary by almost half a million.