From monitoring to meaning: the next phase of Ireland’s wellbeing framework

Introduction

Ireland’s current wellbeing framework was developed in response to a growing recognition that economic growth alone does not provide a sufficient account of how people are living or whether progress is being sustained. Arising from the 2020

Programme for Government, it was designed to provide a broader account of Ireland’s progress across economic, social and environmental dimensions, with particular emphasis on equality and sustainability over time.

Since 2021, the framework has evolved from an initial statement of intent into a more established cross-government approach. Supported by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) Well-being Information Hub, it has begun to shape annual analysis, budget documentation and wider policy discussion.

However, after five years, it is right to ask if the wellbeing framework has moved far enough beyond simply reporting and measuring into meaningfully shaping public spending, departmental priorities and accountability across the whole of government activity. There is also an opportunity now to consider if a stronger statutory basis for the wellbeing framework, or clearer institutional ownership, could help to achieve this

policy aspiration and mitigate the risk of it remaining simply an accompanying narrative to existing government activity, rather than a mechanism that changes how government works and drives population level policy outcomes.

The current phase of review and development of Ireland’s wellbeing framework is therefore significant. It is an opportunity not only to assess how far the framework has influenced policy and budget processes to date, but also to decide how deeply it should be embedded in the systems that shape legislation, spending, delivery and accountability.

This paper offers Carnegie UK’s reflections and insight from similar efforts to develop, adopt and embed wellbeing frameworks in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to help inform that next phase.