I want to ask about commitments outlined in the programme for Government regarding a new way of measuring economic progress. I refer specifically to the commitment to establish a set of well-being indices to move towards creating a holistic, well-rounded view of how our society is faring. The programme for Government promises to use new well-being indices and balanced scorecards in the development of Government budgeting.

Against the backdrop of Covid-19 and its far-reaching impact beyond just economic consequences, the time is right for the Government to begin its work on addressing the broader needs of Irish society. Will the Tánaiste tell me what plans, if any, have been put in place to begin the Government's work on measuring well-being as a means of improving Ireland's understanding of our social and environmental progress? Is there room to include, for example, sustainable development goals in this work? Does the Tánaiste have any information concerning what experts and stakeholders can be brought in to support the Government's work in this area and what other countries we might be looking to when framing this work?

I do not think we have got started on that aspect yet, but it is in the programme for Government. It is something that the Government and all three parties in government are committing to doing, because we need an accurate way to measure well-being in our society that is about more than GDP and about more than trolley numbers. We need something more sophisticated than any of those metrics. Regarding looking to other countries, New Zealand has done some good work in this area and our new Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland was the man involved with those well-being indices and budgets in New Zealand, so perhaps that is one country we can look to.

We should not forget, however, that some well-being indices already exist. For example, the United Nations Development Programme produces a human development index, HDI, every year. That looks at health through life expectancy, educational attainment and economics, and that index ranks Ireland as the fourth-best country in the world in which to live. Deputies would be forgiven for not believing that, but it is the truth.