This week Social Justice Ireland published an alternative Wellbeing Framework to that used by the Government (published last year). Social Justice Ireland aims to achieve a more comprehensive assessment of wellbeing in Ireland that accounts for progress, equality, and sustainability.
The Government’s 2024 Wellbeing Framework evaluates wellbeing across eleven dimensions and presents progress through two key metrics:
- Trend score (white bar): This score reflects Ireland’s progress over time, typically calculated as a % change over a 5-year period (or adjusted based on data availability).
- International score (blue bar): This score compares Ireland’s performance relative to the EU or OECD average and the best-performing country.
In 2024 the only dimension, out of the 11 assessed, to score negatively on trend and international comparison was Environment, Climate and Biodiversity. This dimension is based on 4 indicators:
- Greenhouse Gas emissions, Ireland has the 2nd highest per capita emissions in the EU
- The water quality in Ireland’s rivers is below EU average and has declining trends
- There are increasing numbers of households reporting pollution and environmental issues
- Per capita waste generation increased 10% and remains above the EU average.
Social Justice Ireland state that while the Government’s report acknowledges disparities in equality and sustainability in the narrative, their exclusion from core performance measurement means that disparities between different groups and long-term impacts are not fully accounted for and therefore become less central to policy evaluation.
They state that to future proof wellbeing we need more than just short-term improvements; it demands a framework that actively measures and mitigates risks to sustained wellbeing. They recalculated the Framework assessment using three lenses: progress; equality and sustainability. They also expanded the indicators for Environment, Climate and Biodiversity to include: Access to reliable, affordable and sustainable energy sources; Biodiversity loss; Proportion of the population able to keep their homes adequately warm; and Greenhouse Gas Emissions.
Social Justice Ireland’s assessment of the Environment, Climate and Biodiversity category confirms the significant challenges, with performance and sustainability assessments showing negative trends and insufficient progress in achieving national and international targets. Their equality score shows a stark divide in environmental outcomes across different demographic groups as well.
Social Justice Ireland Framework
Understanding Life in Ireland: Wellbeing analysis 2024
