Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 May 2021
416. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the progress made to include reference in all new statements of strategy to all sustainable development goal targets for which his Department has lead responsibility as outlined in the Sustainable Development Goals National Implementation Plan 2018-2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25749/21]
View answer417. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the specific sustainable development goal targets his Department is responsible for implementing; the progress made in implementing those targets since 26 April 2018; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25767/21]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 416 and 417 together.
The United Nations (UN) 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is a significant and ambitious cross-Government policy agenda coordinated by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC).
Within the national coordination structures for delivery of the SDGs, the Department of Foreign Affairs has responsibility for leading implementation of 65 targets across the 16 of the 17 Goals (the exception being Goal 15) with inputs from other Departments where relevant. The Department is continuing its active engagement to achieve progress on targets on which it leads, for example through the Government’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) programme, and in international forums for SDG implementation, particularly the the United Nations system.
The SDGs are mainstreamed across the Department's work as articulated in 'The Global Island: Ireland’s Foreign Policy for a Changing World' and 'A Better World: Ireland’s Policy for International Development', as articulated in the Department's Statement of Strategy 2021-23. These key outcomes are in turn associated with very specific priority outputs for the Department.
The Department feeds into the national SDG progress report, known as the Voluntary National Review, presented at meetings of the UN High-level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development every two to three years. Ireland will present its next Voluntary National Review in 2022. This will outline Ireland’s progress on SDG achievement since our first Voluntary National Review presented to the HLPF in July 2018. In addition, the Department's annual report and the Irish Aid annual report, while not SDG reporting instruments, also relate elements of the Department's contribution towards reaching its SDG targets.
