Government’s social justice claims disputed by coalition of civil groups

Ireland is making significant progress in meeting many of its international goals for ending poverty and implementing social and ecological justice, Minister for the Environment Eamon Ryan has said.

However, speaking at the United Nations in New York, he said it was disappointing that objectives were not being reached in areas such as municipal waste. He said challenges remained in relation to others such as clean water and sanitation.

A coalition of about 70 civil society groups on Tuesday criticised the Government’s claims that Ireland was reaching 80 per cent of its sustainable development goals. It said Ireland was failing to reach the furthest behind in society which was a core principle of the sustainable development goals.

Ending poverty

Mr Ryan is in New York to present to the United Nations Ireland’s second voluntary national review on its performance in relation to the sustainable development goals. The Minister told The Irish Times that 17 development goals had been agreed in 2015. He said they represented a guide for ending poverty and “a map for the developed world as well as the developing world. They actually provide a path forward for everyone in areas like improving health, education, access to justice as well as the environmental and poverty goals.”

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He said improvement was needed in other areas. He said areas, where there was a lack of progress, included water quality and meeting some of the country’s climate objectives. The Minister said further progress was also needed in relation to domestic and industrial waste as well as protecting the natural environment. He said commercial and retail industrial bodies had to achieve far higher levels of recycling.

However, also speaking in New York, was co-ordinator of Coalition 2030 Meaghan Carmody who said the Government’s presentation was “completely at odds with the lived experience of thousands of people in Ireland”.

She said Ireland was not making adequate progress in relation to the sustainable development goals because vast swathes of people were being left behind. These included, she added, one-parent families, those with disabilities, migrants, people in the direct provision system and those who were older.

‘Slums in Ireland’

Belinda Nugent of the Inner City Organisations Network called for the implementation of a retrofitting plan for communities in these areas.

“People would say we don’t have slums in Ireland. Well maybe, you need to have a walk around the inner city. Some of these [areas] are really bad with mould, windows and doors that have fallen off.”

James Casey of the Independent Living Movement Ireland said goals in relation to people with disabilities were not being met. “Disabled people are more at risk of poverty in Ireland than anywhere else in western Europe and the lowest rate of people in employment in the EU at 33 per cent,” he said.

Suzanne Rogers of Social Justice Ireland said the traffic light system used in Ireland’s progress report was misleading as, at first glance, it appeared very positive, such as in relation to reducing poverty. She said there was nothing about poverty in the Government’s press release while the last Central Statistics Office survey showed 13 per cent of people lived in poverty.

Louise Finan of Dóchas — the association of international development non-governental organisations in Ireland — said the global food system was not working for the poorest people and climate change was having a disproportionate impact on those most behind across the globe.