Watch: Calls for Government to create a Commissioner for Future Generations
The Commission for Future Generations Bill had been under scrutiny by the Joint Committee on Children, Equality, Disability, Integration & Youth prior to the General Election last November, but has not yet been put back on the Government's agenda.
"The climate crisis, demographic shifts, and widening inequalities make long-term thinking essential. Ireland co-led the negotiations for the 2030 Agenda and has a global reputation to uphold in sustainable development," Coalition 2030 Coordinator David Rossiter said at the event.
Members of the UN Youth Delegation, GOAL, INTO, Social Justice Ireland, Irish Environmental Network, and the Disability Federation, were among the groups in attendance.
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Irish Examiner view: Poverty is driving a wedge between generations in Ireland
We may all know it on some instinctual level, but ombudsman for children Niall Muldoon stating aloud that the children from Ireland's wealthier families are 'sailing away from the have-nots' is sobering nonetheless. This is a country which has been running budget surpluses and which has been among the world's wealthier nations since the Celtic Tiger era. And yet inequality persists, and is widening. We have 5,000 homeless children in a country which spends €350m a year housing homeless families in Dublin alone. Imagine that money being used to eradicate homelessness by purchasing or building homes. The cost of living crisis — and it is a crisis for many — is only exacerbating what was already a chasm between the haves and have-nots. Such a high number of families are living from pay packet to pay packet, even in cases where the pay should hypothetically see them in good stead, that anybody who can hold on to a few extra euro at the end of the month ends up slowly pulling away from those who cannot. There is also the phenomenon that just subsisting can prolong and deepen poverty. It's perhaps best, and most irreverently, known as boots theory, from a Terry Pratchett novel where the example given was that if you could afford a very good pair of boots, they would last for years, whereas if you can only afford cheaper ones that need to be replaced more quickly, you'll end up spending more over the same time period. Academic studies have identified similar circumstances where people have to rent instead of buy houses, for example; and the cost of rent is now astronomical in this country. Worryingly, while stress has long been known to have detrimental effects on health, the Patrick MacGill Summer School in Glenties, Co Donegal, was told last week that poverty is actually making people age faster. Rose Anne Kenny of TCD said: 'The children experiencing depression at home, alcohol, drugs, homelessness, uncertainty, et cetera – those children age faster.' Most of these problems are within our ability to repair, or at the very least mitigate. We just never seem to be able to invest the right amounts in the right projects at the right time. Perhaps we need to start thinking beyond the years right in front of us. Future generations Calls for the Government to appoint a 'commissioner for future generations' are not without merit, even that sort of role might seem more long term than we're used to. Still, its supporters would say that's part of the point. Much social and economic policy is based on the short term — the next election, the next budget, or what have you. As a nation and a planet, we are now faced with sustained challenges that will continue to plague us long after our grandchildren have grown to maturity. Even apart from climate collapse or the seemingly ever-present threat of global war and deep recession, the looming increase in pension claimants is not going to go away, nor are the demands for services that go with a population that is both growing and ageing. As Sarah Carr of the Goal NextGen youth programme said: 'Today's policies shape tomorrow's realities, from housing and healthcare to climate and economy. We are the last generation with a real chance to get this right and a commissioner for future generations can pave the way for action.' As such, a move to a more holistic, long-term decision-making approach can only be a good thing, and a cultural shake-up that we could benefit from. What's your view on this issue? You can tell us here New crisis in Afghanistan Between the genocide in Gaza and ongoing illegal invasion of Ukraine, it can be easy to overlook the brutal totalitarian regime of the Taliban in Afghanistan. The more than 1.4m people fleeing or being expelled from Iran back to that country don't have the luxury of forgetting, however. Some 500,000 have been caught up in a crackdown following the Israel-Iran exchange of missiles recently, but the process had begun before that as Iran claims it no longer has the resources to support them. Now they are being accused of spying for Israel. Iran claims as many as 6m Afghans live in the country, while 20m people in Afghanistan rely on humanitarian aid to survive. While the deportees include people who have worked in Iran for decades as well as recent arrivals, the most ominous aspect is the number of women being sent back to a country that grows increasingly hostile toward women on a daily basis. 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Irish Examiner
12 hours ago
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Housing is ‘central focus' of €30bn plan to boost investment and protect economy
The Government will this week roll out a €30bn plan to boost investment and protect the Irish economy in the face of US tariffs and recession fears. An additional €10bn of this is to be set aside for 'specific strategic investment' across water infrastructure, the Dublin Metro project, and the electricity grid. Public expenditure and reform minister Jack Chambers said the specific details of the 'ring-fenced' additional funding will be revealed on Tuesday. Coalition leaders met on Saturday to finalise details around updates to the National Development Plan which will ramp up investment in key infrastructure in a move to make Ireland a more attractive place to invest. Mr Chambers told Cabinet colleagues in recent weeks that investment in infrastructure is the most efficient way of safeguarding the economy, especially if the EU and the US end up in a trade war with tariffs above 10%. Senior Coalition sources accept that a 10% tariff is 'baked in' but warn that anything above that could have serious impacts on the Irish economy. Apple tax and AIB shares windfalls They said that Mr Chambers has argued for windfalls from the Apple tax case and sale of AIB shares to be pumped into addressing infrastructural deficits in the National Development Plan (NDP). Mr Chambers said this weekend that the Government will be seeking to 'provide the headroom' needed by Irish Water when it comes to providing additional housing supply. 'We've heard crystal clear the issues around the funding deficit which exists for Uisce Éireann, and the absolute need if we want to ramp up housing supply to address the concerns nationwide around water and wastewater infrastructure,' he told RTÉ's News at One. The 'whole central focus' of this review in the NDP is housing supply and the infrastructure which supports it, he added. There will also be a 'major uplift in our commitment to public transport, to roads projects and active travel', according to Mr Chambers. An additional €10bn of the extra €30bn investment is to be set aside for 'specific strategic investment' including Dublin Metro. However, Government also needs to 'ensure that in regions across our country, whether it's in the West or the South-West or elsewhere, that roads projects, which have been on the table for many years, are progressed', he added. 'That's fundamental to providing balanced regional development, addressing issues around road safety and ensuring we've got connectivity to our regions in the West of Ireland and elsewhere.' Extra money will be allocated in the NDP to defence spending, Mr Chambers confirmed. He rejected the idea that spending on other areas would be limited as a result. 'We can't ignore serious infrastructure deficits in water and energy and transport and housing, and that's why they're being prioritised around the overall allocation,' he said. The Government will also this week outline its summer economic statement, which will give a broad outline of the amount of money available both in this year's budget and over the next number of years in capital spending. Meanwhile, part of the Government's response to tariffs will include a new fund to be announced by enterprise minister Peter Burke, aiming to help companies most impacted by tariffs to cope with increases in costs due to the Trump administration's tariffs.
