Speech at the Innaugural Meeting of the National Economic and Social Forum
It gives me great pleasure, to address you here today, at the inaugural plenary session of the new Forum.
The Forum was established by the Government in 1993 to contribute to the formation of a wider national consensus on economic and social policy, particularly to combat social exclusion.
The unique character of the Forum on its appointment derived from its three broad strands of membership. These comprised representatives of the Oireachtas, the Social Partners and a third strand, representing the Community and Voluntary sector. Back in 1993, the Forum gave a new voice at national level to the community and voluntary sector, representing the unemployed, women, disadvantaged communities, people with disabilities, youth, the elderly and environmental interests. It is indeed a mark of the achievement of the Forum, in establishing a broader perspective on policy, that formal recognition has since been extended to the community and voluntary sector, both as a pillar of social partnership under Partnership 2000, and also on the newly - expanded NESC.
The contribution of the Oireachtas strand of the Forum's membership is extremely valuable. It forms another link between elected representatives and social partnership. I am very pleased that this link has now been strengthened by the inclusion of representatives of local government in the new Forum. This reflects the Government's commitment to developing the role of local government and strengthening its contribution to local development.
A further significant difference in this new Forum is the widening of its membership to include representatives of Government Departments and a number of independent members. Their expertise and contribution will ensure the cross-fertilisation of ideas, and will enhance the Forum's ability to address its work programme.
Through the publication of Reports and Opinions, in the relatively short period of the Forum's existence, it has had a significant impact in strengthening the policy focus on unemployment, poverty and social exclusion. It has also facilitated wider participation in policy making and has stimulated public debate on policy options and choices. A particular example is the Forum's work on long-term unemployment, which has had a profound influence on the understanding of the problem and the shaping of the policy response.
The Forum has also made a lasting contribution to the shape and character of social partnership itself. It is fair to say that the publication last November of Forum Report No.16 - "A Framework for Partnership - Enriching Strategic Consensus Through Participation" has been a major step in positioning the social partnership process to address the challenges of the years ahead. In particular, Report No. 16 analysed the roles of both the NESC and the NESF in the context of social partnership. The Forum made recommendations for their future development so that they would be complementary and would, together, provide a foundation for the social partnership process for the years ahead. It was on the basis of this Report and the consultation process with the Social Partners, that the Government decided on the relative contribution it would ask each body to make to the policy process.
To underline its role in policy-making, the Government have decided to put the Forum on a statutory basis at an early stage. Granting the Forum a statutory recognition marks the contribution it has made and reflects the Government's commitment to its work in underpinning the process of social partnership.
Together with the NESC, the Forum will form part of a new statutory Office for National Economic and Social Development. This closer grouping of the two bodies will improve and link the agenda-setting work of both organisations, strengthen their complementary roles in the policy process, and ensure that each organisation has access to the skills it requires.
In order to facilitate better co-operation and sharing of support services, both organisations will be housed in new offices in Frederick House in the very near future.
The process of National Social Partnership has underpinned our economic and social development over the past decade. It has helped us to rise from an ever deepening spiral of debt, unemployment and emigration to one of the most efficient economies in the European Union.
Social Partnership has also played a major role in developing new approaches to the problem of social exclusion. This is rightly seen as a core issue of concern to Government, the Social Partners, and the community as a whole. It has encouraged us to adopt innovative approaches, and to focus on the views of those closest to the experience of exclusion. Indeed, the very existence of the Forum and its terms of reference are an example of that approach.
The Government are committed to reflecting social inclusion as a core value in public policy. I, myself, chair a Cabinet Committee which regularly reviews progress in relation to the National Anti Poverty Strategy, the local development process and the National Drugs Strategy. We have taken initiatives in such areas as the £30m Young People's Services and Facilities Fund; an intensive support programme for vulnerable families and children; a new approach to adult literacy, and the various measures arising from Partnership 2000.
The reality is that effective responses to social exclusion are challenging to us all. To be effective, policies must:
- reflect the true nature of the problems to be addressed, in all their changing complexity;
- be delivered in line with the objectives set; and
- be evaluated to test that the outcomes are what were intended.
Policies to tackle social exclusion must, therefore, be broad enough in scope to match the factors which generate and reproduce social exclusion. This means having a high degree of co-ordination of policies and programmes, across Departments and agencies.
The Government have taken decisions to reflect this requirement in a number of areas on which the Forum has published reports. We have instructed Departments to undertake a poverty-proofing of significant proposals coming before Government. This aims to highlight areas where policy could be refocused to avoid a negative impact on those at risk of poverty or, preferably, to improve their situation.
The Government have also decided to produce a much more focused and better co-ordinated response to the needs of the most disadvantaged communities. Based on extensive consultations already carried out, I will shortly be meeting with the heads of all the relevant public bodies to secure their co-operation in a new, co-ordinated approach, starting in four disadvantaged communities, where social exclusion requires a new approach from the public service.
Against this background, I am today asking the Forum to take on a new role in developing policies and programmes to tackle long-term unemployment, poverty and social exclusion. Under its new mandate, the Forum has a unique role to play in evaluating the effectiveness of policies which are being implemented within the framework of social partnership agreements and of the National Anti-Poverty Strategy.
It is envisaged that these evaluations should be carried out by Project Teams constituted from the Social Partners, relevant Government Departments and Agencies and independent experts as appropriate. The Team approach will capture the information and experience of public representatives, the Social Partners, and consumers of services, at a local level to establish the impact of policies and programmes, and to identify the scope for policy improvement.
This work will be complementary to the task which I have asked the National Economic and Social Council to undertake in preparing a new strategy as a basis for social partnership in the next decade and beyond. The decision to establish the new Office, and to have the same person act as Deputy Chairperson in both the NESC and the NESF, will underpin this. Your work will also complement the monitoring arrangements which are in place in my Department under the provisions of Partnership 2000.
The Government will rely heavily in the next period on your advice and your evaluation of the measures which are in place to combat poverty and exclusion. You will be bringing your cumulative experience and insights to bear in your endeavours. I have no doubt that the new team approach will enhance the Forum's ability to reach out and to judge the effects policies are having at grassroots level.
I am confident that, with the wealth of experience and expertise around this table, under the guidance of your Chairperson, Maureen Gaffney, who has been with the Forum since the start, the Reports of the Forum will continue to be of vital assistance to the Partnership process. I would like to assure you of the Government's complete support in your valuable work and I look forward to receiving your Reports in due course.
Thank you.