Why the next phase of Ireland’s wellbeing framework matters

Five years after its introduction, Ireland’s wellbeing framework stands at an important crossroads. Since 2021, it has helped broaden the policy conversation about national progress beyond economic growth alone, which has been significant in Ireland in recent years in contrast to both the UK and many European nations. The Irish wellbeing framework has brought greater policy attention to the social, environmental and democratic conditions that enable people and communities to thrive.

The framework is now established within Irish government reporting and budget documentation. Yet the key question policymakers in Ireland should now be asking is whether it has gone far enough in shaping the decisions that ultimately determine people’s quality of life.

In our latest Carnegie UK paper, From Monitoring to Meaning: The Next Phase of Ireland’s Wellbeing Framework, we argue that the next stage of development for the framework should focus on embedding it more fully into the machinery and central decision making of government.

Drawing on lessons from similar frameworks in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the paper highlights a common challenge. Many governments have developed or established wellbeing frameworks, which include a compelling vision and shared outcomes. Far fewer have succeeded in ensuring those frameworks meaningfully influence and sit at the heart of spending decisions and cross portfolio agendas like public service reform.

The Scottish experience demonstrates that wellbeing frameworks can endure changes in political leadership and become embedded in public discourse yet still struggle to influence day-to-day decision making. Wales shows that placing wellbeing on a statutory footing alone does not deliver transformational change if implementation becomes primarily a compliance exercise. Northern Ireland illustrates the value of robust wellbeing data and local delivery, while also reminding us that measurement does not create accountability or collective action.

We believe these lessons are relevant not only to Ireland but also to policymakers in the UK struggling with establishing whole of government approaches to shared problems. Governments everywhere are grappling with complex challenges and transitions that cut across traditional departmental boundaries such as child poverty, mental health, housing pressures, climate resilience and demographic change. Addressing these issues requires institutions that can think longer term, work collaboratively and balance economic, social and environmental considerations. Wellbeing frameworks offer a practical way to achieve this, but they will have the greatest impact when they are genuinely embedded in how governments think, plan and operate.

To support the next phase of Ireland’s wellbeing framework, Carnegie UK has identified six priorities for Ireland between now and 2030. These include renewing the framework around shared policy outcomes, aligning indicators with emerging international standards, considering a statutory foundation for the framework, developing shared institutional ways of working, embedding wellbeing within budget formation processes and creating stronger local wellbeing data and insight.

At the heart of these recommendations is the aspiration for improving collective wellbeing to become a core governing principle in Ireland. Ministers should be able to demonstrate whether people are living well, whether inequalities are narrowing, whether future generations are protected and whether policy decisions are contributing to long-term collective wellbeing.

For Ireland, the current wellbeing framework review presents an important and timely opportunity to strengthen one of the most promising developments in public policy over recent years. By 2030 the goal is to ensure that a renewed wellbeing framework genuinely sits at the centre of Irish policy making.