Equality budgeting and money message
Deputy Howlin pressed for action on OECD recommendations to strengthen equality budgeting. The Tánaiste said the proposal awaited a money message and no decision had been made, and he repeated that position when challenged on the delay.
Among the budget documentation released by the Government this week was a report by the OECD on equality budgeting in Ireland. The three recommendations in the report were that we should develop a set of national equality goals and indicators as a performance budgeting framework; that we should expand equality budgeting beyond performance measurements to link to other policies, such as poverty-proofing; and that we should build our capacity to gather analytical data in support of equality budgeting.
In 2017 I brought forward the Genuine Progress Indicators and National Distributional Accounts Bill which passed on Second Stage in this House in March 2018. Some 18 months later, it is one of many Bills trapped in legislative limbo while waiting to progress to Committee Stage. Will the Tánaiste consider the Bill in the light of the OECD's report and the need for equality budgeting? Will he allow it to be passed and enacted?
Comment on this
I understand it is awaiting a money message. I also understand a decision on it has not yet been made. I can try to come back to the Deputy on the matter.