eolas magazine issue 54

Informing Ireland’s

Positive change Three Ireland’s Ken McGrath

ANALYSIS

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar TD on

the

Minister Helen McEntee TD on ensuring a whole-ofgovernment approach to justice

Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien TD outlines

for

in

Digital Government 2022

This annual event provides a valuable opportunity to bring together key stakeholders to gain insight into the government’s objectives for digital transformation and hear directly from those responsible for driving this forward. Taking place as a fully in person event, reconnect and network with your peers and colleagues, key senior policy makers and decision takers. The conference also features a busy exhibition zone featuring some of Ireland’s leading expert solution providers.

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cyber threats for public sector organisations;

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practice case studies in digital delivery from outside Ireland.

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Croke Park, Dublin

in its ninth year, Social Media Dublin is the major event for the social media and communications industry. Bringing together over 300 attendees, the conference attracts a wide range of expert speakers from across different sectors. Keeping up to date with future social media trends is a key focus of the event, as well as showcasing successful social media campaigns in Ireland and beyond. As well as being significant in terms of social media expertise and case studies, #SMDublin has developed a strong

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Anois teacht an gheimhridh…

Budget 2023 has been billed as the cost-of-living budget, the Government’s opportunity to soften the blow of the international inflation crisis that has seen domestic inflation for the year forecast at 8.5 per cent by the Department of Finance. Given that the Government had forecast an inflation rate of 2.2 per cent in Budget 2022, the crisis has come at a pace unforeseen by even the most pessimistic of commentators.

Budget 2023 featured within it a number of one-off measures designed to combat the rising costs of, not least, energy use.

The Economic and Social Research Institute say that the measures will “insulate most households from inflation this winter”; for the Government, the proof will be in the pudding of the coming months, but they have, at least, taken a shot. This is a spending budget rather than an austere one, following on the trend seen since the onset of the Covid crisis.

As the economy changes, so too does the world of work and our cover story explores Three Ireland’s pursuit of positive change, the advantages of 5G within the post-Covid public sector landscape, and network security and resilience. Ken McGrath, Head of Public Sector Sales, tells us of Three Ireland’s bid to “sustain the momentum for positive change and ensure that the potential of our 5G infrastructure is realised in delivering a better public service”. In addition, this issue of eolas Magazine incorporates special reports on justice, housing, connectivity and the future of work, and Galway city, with notable contributions from ministers Darragh O’Brien TD, Eamon Ryan TD, Leo Varadkar TD, and Helen McEntee TD. Elsewhere, comprehensive coverage is afforded to current and public affairs topics which include a round table discussion hosted by Gas Networks Ireland on the future of renewable gas.

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Editorial

Ciarán Galway, Editor ciaran.galway@eolasmagazine.ie Odrán Waldron, Deputy Editor odran.waldron@eolasmagazine.ie David Whelan david.whelan@eolasmagazine.ie Fiona McCarthy fiona.mccarthy@eolasmagazine.ie Joshua Murray joshua.murray@eolasmagazine.ie

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Odrán Waldron

Smyth appointed as new Chief Medical Officer

Breda Smyth has been appointed as the Chief Medical Officer at the Department of Health, having been in the job on an interim basis since July 2022.

In a statement announcing her appointment, Smyth stated: “I am delighted to accept this role and I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Department of Health, and across our health and social care service to promote and protect public health and the health and wellbeing of the population of Ireland.”

Smyth completed her primary degree in medicine in University College Galway (now the University of Galway). She then continued her training in the Royal College of Physicians Ireland, undertook a master’s in

public health in University College Dublin, a medical doctorate in NUI Galway and a post-doctoral fellowship in UCLA. Smyth was conferred as a member of the Faculty of Public Health Medicine of Ireland in 2005, and, in 2013, was made a Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health Medicine in Ireland.

Minister of Health Stephen Donnelly TD said: “The pandemic has placed a renewed spotlight on the importance of public health in our health and social care services and I very much look forward to working with Breda as we build on this important work and continue to facilitate increased access to the health service, as well as the quality of that service.”

EU downgrades seven counties to ‘lagging region’ status

The European Commission has downgraded the north and west regions of the State to ‘lagging region’ status, after a decline in economic activity which places the region behind the European average.

The Commission said that the region, which covers counties Galway, Roscommon, Leitrim, Sligo, Donegal, Monaghan, and Mayo, has seen lower productivity and educational attainment, as well as a weaker skills base and business environment.

It is estimated that the region’s GDP per capita has fallen from around 82 per cent of the EU average between 2015 and 2017, to around 71 per cent, ranking

it as the 177th most competitive out of the 240 regions of the European Union.

The assessment was made in a document over a partnership agreement between Ireland and the EU in September which unlocked €1.4 billion in funding through the EU’s cohesion policy.

The document outlines €20 million in funding originally intended for the southern, eastern, and midlands regions which will now be spent on decarbonisation and digitalisation in the north and west, with the aim of combatting regional inequalities in the State.

EUROPE

Review of An Bord Pleanála recommends ‘urgent reform’

A report by Office of the Planning Regulator has recommended ‘urgent reform’ to the operations of An Bord Pleanála (ABP).

The report, published in October 2022, states it is critical that ABP’s “needs are met in a sustainable manner, having regard to societal, economic, and environmental contexts”.

It adds: “What is also critical is that An Bord Pleanála benefits from a high degree of public and institutional confidence in its independence, impartiality, probity, and professionalism.”

“Resourcing of An Bord Pleanála is a critical starting point,” the report states, most immediately in relation to filling vacancies at board level, so that its core decision-making function is delivered upon.

To combat ‘recent difficulties’, the report further recommends that An Bord Pleanála transitions to a learning-based organisation, with strengthened management, oversight, and technical capabilities in this regard, particularly in relation to the many interactions between planning and environmental law.

Stating that “resourcing will not be sufficient in and of itself”, the report additionally recommends that An Bord Pleanála undergoes “structural reform” of its management of its dayto-day operations. “This includes building a robust structure for ethics and compliance oversight to monitor conflicts arising in the decision-making function as well as appropriate legal services supports.”

To complement bolstered resources for the making of sound decisions from a legal and ethical perspective, the report further recommends that An Bord Pleanála urgently puts in place clear and effective written systems and procedures to guide all staff, including the chairperson and board members, in relation to its quasi-judicial decision-making process.

To complement bolstered resources for the making of sound decisions from a legal and ethical perspective, the report further recommends that An Bord Pleanála urgently puts in place clear and effective written systems and procedures to guide all staff, including the chairperson and board members, in relation to its quasi-judicial decision-making process.

OECD: Irish transport system incompatible with net zero targets

An OECD report has found that the Irish transport system fosters growing car use and emissions by design and is thus unfit to enable the country to meet its greenhouse gas reduction goals while improving wellbeing.

The report, entitled Redesigning Ireland’s Transport for Net Zero: Towards Systems that Work for People and the Planet, states that the State’s transport system is characterised by three “undesirable dynamics”. These are induced car demand, urban sprawl, and the low attractiveness of sustainable modes of transport.

The OECD additionally states that the policies announced in the Climate Action Plan will not reduce Ireland’s CO2 emissions enough to meet the emissions targets as it does not adequately reform the State’s transport system away from a reliance on private car transport.

The report makes four key recommendations to alleviate the issue. Firstly, it states that the Government should redefine the goal of the transport system as “sustainable accessibility”,

with complementary recommendations of revisiting measurement frameworks and models, as well as setting a sustainability goal for planning.

Secondly, the report states that the Government should prioritise the scaling up of policies which can help move Ireland away from its car-reliant system, ensuring that sustainable modes of transport are the first choice for a bulk of trips.

Third, Ireland needs to redefine its electrification strategy to support the transition towards a sustainable transport system, outlining that a target should be set for people in terms of kilometres travelled.

Fourth and finally, the report says that the Government needs to embrace a systemic approach to policy decision-making across government departments, stating that there needs to be “shared understanding of root causes by all stakeholders and to expose ingrained ideas that hinder progress”.

TRANSPORT

PUBLIC SECTOR

Deal reached over public sector pay

Public sector workers in the State will be given a pay rise of 6.5 per cent over the next two years after trade unions voted to accept the Government’s offer.

The measures will see a 3 per cent increase in pay for public sector workers, backdated to February 2022, which is a 2 per cent increase from March 2023, in addition to either a 1.5 per cent or €750 – depending on which is greater – beginning in October 2023.

This is in addition to 1 per cent (or €500, again dependent on which is greater) due on 1 October 2022 agreed under the original Building Momentum agreement.

President of the Irish Congress of Trades Unions, Kevin Callinan, said that the ICTU “expect to be back in negotiations next year to secure pay terms beyond the lifetime of the current agreement, which will expire at the end of 2023, and unions will of course continue to closely monitor living costs and income pressures”.

Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Michael McGrath TD, said: “I believe the proposals put forward by the Workplace Relations Commission strike the right balance between providing a deal that is fair to public servants in the midst of cost-of-living challenges and one that is sustainable and affordable for the taxpayer.”

ISSUES

Government approves redress bill for mother and baby homes survivors

The Government has approved the Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Bill, a bill which will offer reparation for women and children who were institutionalised within mother and baby homes.

It is estimated that there are 34,000 women alive in the State today who were kept in these homes at some point in their lives.

The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth has said that applications for the payment will open in 2023 “as early as possible”, with an allocation of €800 million in funding for the scheme.

Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Roderic O’Gorman TD, outlined that all mothers who spent time in an institution will be eligible for the scheme, with the amount dependant on the time they spent in a home.

Children who spent six months or longer in an institution will additionally be eligible for the scheme.

The Department further states that there will also be a work-related payment for women who were resident in certain institutions for more than three months and who undertook “what might be termed” commercial work.

In addition, there will be a medical card available for all those who spent six months or longer in a mother and baby home.

Minister O’Gorman, upon the announcement of the Government’s approval of the Bill, stated that passage of the Bill “represents a significant milestone in the State’s acknowledgment of its past failures and of the needless suffering experienced by so many of its citizens”.

matters arising

GOVERNMENT

Calleary appointed as Minister of State

Dara Calleary TD has returned to frontline politics after he was appointed as Minister of State of State for Trade Promotion, Digital and Company Regulation at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.

Calleary, who served as deputy leader of Fianna Fáil between 2018 and 2020, replaces Robert Troy TD, the former Minister of State who resigned after calls for the Dáil’s Committee on Parliamentary Privileges and Oversight to investigate alleged improprieties over the declaration of his properties.

The Mayo native has previously served as Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, a position from which he was forced to resign in August 2020 amid public outcry following his alleged implication in the Oireachtas Golf Society scandal, where it was alleged that there was a breach of the Government’s Covid-19 guidance. In February 2022, a District Judge found that there had been no breach of the Government’s guidance.

Calleary is a TD representing Mayo, where he was first elected in 2007, and had performed various roles in the departments for Enterprise, Culture, the Department of the Taoiseach, and has served as Government Chief Whip.

In a statement released upon his appointment, he said that he was “delighted to be appointed Minister of State for Trade Promotion, Digital and Company Regulation at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment”.

The change of Minister of State is the seventh change to have occurred at the level of Minister of State thus far in Taoiseach Micheál Martin TD’s cabinet. The previous government, under Tánaiste Leo Varadkar TD, saw two changes at the level of Minister of State when it was in office between 2017 and 2020.

Government bans evictions for winter

On 18 October, the Government announced a ban on evictions for tenants during the winter period.

The ban means that any tenant issued with an eviction notice between 1 November and the end of March 2023 cannot be removed from the house until April 2023.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin TD, who three months ago referred to a ban on evictions as “unconstitutional”, said that the measure was an important step to prevent homelessness over the winter period.

The ban may be faced with a legal challenge from the Irish Property Owners Association, with chair Mary Conway telling RTÉ’s This Morning Ireland that members of her organisation would be prevented from selling the houses they own.

There are currently over 10,000 homeless people in the State, according to the latest Housing Bulletin Report.

Leader of the opposition, Mary Lou McDonald TD, welcomed the measure, telling the Dáil that Sinn Féin were “anxious to assist” the Government in implementing the ban.

HOUSING

The cost-of-living budget

since the 1980s, and as Irish citizens feel the squeeze, the €11 billion package aims to “put money back into their pockets”.

Overview

The total size of additional spending and tax measures, along with one-off measures, included in Budget 2023 is expected to come close to €11 billion, with the Budget package accounting for approximately €7 billion and one-off measures set to come to almost €4 billion.

Such levels of investment, both at the one-off and sustained budgetary package level, were clearly needed to tackle an international economic environment that, on the back of the successive crises of the Covid-19 pandemic and its associated economic damage and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, is being swallowed by steeply increasing inflation, most acutely felt by households via skyrocketing energy prices. The intense nature of these pressures was perhaps reflected in the fact that Budget 2023 was unveiled two weeks earlier than the typical mid-October date.

The challenge for Budget 2023 will be to stay ahead of inflation and to not have its increased spending simply swallowed by price raises. Having forecast an inflation rate of 2.2 per cent for 2022 in Budget 2022, the Government is instead facing a rate of inflation forecast to be 7.8 per cent by the Central Bank and forecast by the Department of Finance to be 8.5 per cent for 2022 and 7 per cent for 2023. Such conditions made the cost of living the inescapable priority topic of Budget 2023.

Cost of living

Cost-of-living pressures have come from a multitude of directions, applying pressure on citizens from angles such as rent, energy prices, childcare, and social welfare payments not keeping pace with inflationary prices. To this end, Budget 2023 delivered a number

of one-off measures designed to ease the pressure on Irish citizens: the child benefit payment will be paid at a double rate (€140 per child) in November 2022; a double week “cost of living support” payment was made to all social welfare recipients in October and the Christmas bonus will be paid lump sums of #in early December; Working Family Payment and Carer Support Grant recipients will be paid lump sums of €500 in November; and once-off payments of €200 will be made before Christmas to recipients of the Living Alone Allowance and €500 to recipients of disability allowance and the invalidity and blind pensions. Every social welfare recipient, including pensioners, will also receive an increase of €12 per week. In total, a social protection package of €2.2 billion was announced.

In terms of energy and fuel costs, the fuel allowance means limit for over 70s was extended to €500 for single people and €1,000 for couples, with fuel allowance recipients also receiving an extra lump sum of €400 before Christmas. €600 in electricity credits will be paid to all household in instalments of €200, with the first set to be paid before Christmas. In an attempt on the Government’s part to ease rental pressures, taxpayers who rent will receive a tax credit valued at €500 per year from 2023 onwards, which can also

be claimed in respect of rent paid in 2022.

€121 million of funding has also been delivered in order to fund a reduction of up to 25 per cent in the weekly fee for those availing of the National Childcare Scheme, with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Michael McGrath TD telling the Dáil that the measure “will put up to €175 a month, or €2,106 a year, back in the pockets of parents next year”.

Responses to the measures have been

varied. The Economic and Social Research Institute’s (ESRI) post-budget briefing stated that the one-off cost-ofliving measures will “insulate most households from inflation this winter”.

Barra Roantree, ESRI Research Officer, said: “Our research shows the government’s approach to insulating households from the recent rise in energy prices has been effective.

Targeted welfare measures combined with universal household energy credits will do more for most lower income households this winter than had welfare

“Targeted welfare measures combined with universal household energy credits will do more for most lower income households this winter than had welfare payment rates risen in line with inflation both this year and next.”

Barra Roantree, ESRI Research Officer

(Source: ESRI)

payment rates risen in line with inflation both this year and next.” The Parliamentary Budget Office’s (PBO) prebudget commentary would appear to agree with this sentiment, stating: “Given the limited extra resources available, budget measures should be targeted towards those households most in need, given that rising costs show no signs of easing.”

However, Fórsa, the largest public sector public union, said that the childcare measures within the budget should have been more radical. “While the broader package of cost-of-living measures is welcome, reflecting the efforts of unions to impress upon the Government the need for such measures, childcare needs more than a temporary crisis intervention,” Kevin Callinan, Fórsa general secretary and Irish Congress of Trade Unions president, said. “Failure to tackle childcare comprehensively means a significant block remains to many parents, usually mothers, hoping to enter the workforce or to return to work after having children.”

Housing

Measures outlined in Budget 2023 to tackle an issue that long predates the rapid inflation of recent times, housing, include the extension of the Help-to-Buy Scheme on its current terms into 2024. In the rental market, while landlords have seen no change on the tax paid on rental income, they have seen the amount that they are able to claim for pre-letting expenses doubled to €10,000 and a

reduction on the time that a property must be vacant for in order to be eligible from 12 months to six months.

Vacant homes will also be subject to a new tax that will apply to residential properties that are occupied for less than 30 days per year. Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe TD, upon announcing the measure, stated that exemptions will apply to properties vacant for “genuine reasons” and that the tax will be selfassessed. A levy will also be introduced on concrete blocks and pouring concrete in a bid to raise €80 million a year. It will be applied from April 2003 at a rate of 10 per cent.

In an exchange following the outlining of the Budget measures, Donohoe defended the Government’s record on housing, stating that it had committed a record €4.5 billion for the public funding of social, affordable, and cost rental homes, but the Labour TD Ged Nash responded that the Government’s flagship Housing for All policy had been a “total failure”.

Health

The extension of free GP care to children aged six and seven that was pledged in Budget 2022 has been reiterated, while Minister of Health Stephen Donnelly TD also outlined plans for a free GP visit card scheme for low-income homes that will apply to roughly 360,000 adults. €10 million has been pledged to public funding of IVF treatments, including both private IVF and the development of public treatment, and free contraception has

been extended to now include women aged 16-30.

Transport

A €3.5 billion support package has been pledged by McGrath in order to support the delivery of BusConnects, MetroLink, and DART+; while the €3.5 billion figure includes current expenditure, the €2.6 billion of capital funding within represents the highest level of capital investment in the sector since 2008.

The Government has also extended the current excise reduction of 21c per litre for petrol and 16c per litre for diesel.

Education

The Department of Education has received a €9.6 billion allocation from Budget 2023, including a capital budget of €860 million. Such funding will go towards the provision of an additional 686 teachers – which will reduce class sizes by one pupil for the third consecutive year – and free school books for primary pupils. According to the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO), the fund of €90 million that has been established to provide an approximately 40 per cent increase in funding for schools in this academic year will mean that a 150-pupil primary school will receive a top-up of €11,250 to bring their allocated funding for this school year to €70,800.

Continued rollout of the NDP will see 150 school-building projects that are currently at advanced design or tender stage commencing construction in 2023. The INTO states that it expects the “majority” of the 300 construction projects currently in the construction phase to be completed in 2023.

Macroeconomic level

As part of an income tax package worth €1.1 billion, the top rate of tax (40 per cent) will now only apply to those on incomes above €40,000; personal tax credit will rise from €1,700 to €1,755 and the employee and earned income tax credit will increase by the same amount; and the second USC band is to be increased to €22,920 due to an increase in the minimum wage.

An additional €2 billion has been set aside for the “rainy day fund”, while a contingency fund of over €4 billion to deal with Brexit and Ukraine repercussions has also been put aside; the Government expects Budget 2023 to result in a surplus of €1 billion (0.4 per cent of GNI*), a move that notable economists such as Thomas Piketty have criticised in countries such as Germany and Japan in times of inflation, whereby it is argued that retention of profits further damages consumer confidence.

The PBO stated prior to the budget announcement that the “underlying fundamentals of the economy are strong, and the number of people in employment is up 200,000 from prepandemic levels with an unemployment rate of 4.2 per cent in July. Tax revenue is up 12.3 per cent (€7.3 billion) to endAugust compared to last year, driven by strong corporation tax, income tax and VAT returns”. However, their commentary does note that the tax package “may underestimate the amount required just to standstill and maintain existing levels of service, due to high inflation in 2022” and that total current expenditure for 2023 would have to be “around €74.85

billion just to standstill at 2022 levels (accounting for 4.2 per cent inflation in 2023) and would need to be €78.87 billion to account for unexpected 2022 inflation combined with forecast 2023 inflation”; considering the Government’s own prediction of 7 per cent inflation in 2023, and the ESRI’s prediction of 6.8 per cent, the latter figure may be necessary.

The ESRI’s quarterly economic commentary for Q3 2022, published the week after the unveiling of the budget, says that despite “considerable uncertainty” around recession in the US, the UK and the EU, and “the growing

possibility of energy supplies being rationed across Europe in the winter of 2023”, “the domestic economy is still expected to grow robustly this year”, to the tune of modified domestic demand growth of 7.5 per cent in 2022 and a fall in the unemployment rate to 4.1 per cent, registering a government surplus of 0.3 per cent. With the inflationary pressures predicted to remain at a high, but moderating level, the Government will be hoping that the ESRI’s prediction that the targeted supports will ease pressure on the cost of living proves correct; otherwise, the surpluses recorded in recent years may be called upon.

“Failure to tackle childcare comprehensively means a significant block remains to many parents, usually mothers, hoping to enter the workforce or to return to work after having children.”

Kevin Cullinan, General Secretary, Fórsa

story

Positive change Three Ireland’s Ken McGrath

Allied to the digital transformation agenda, the public sector is undergoing a pivot towards hybrid working and seeking to establish an optimal work/life balance. “In this context, we have observed a widespread adoption of 5G which will undergo several iterations as its associated applications evolve,” McGrath remarks, adding: “In the initial phase, over the past 12 months, the experience of enhanced mobile broadband has been tangibly felt.”

Connectivity

Emphasising the centrality of connectivity during the Covid crisis, the Head of Public Sector Sales asserts: “Digital transformation does not exist without network access and associated flexibility.”

While acknowledging the continued expansion of the National Broadband Plan and investment in fibre network assets by the fixed-line carriers, he contends: “With more people working remotely than ever, there is congestion in broadband services.”

Network

Given the macroeconomic headwinds both nationally and internationally, 5G is an essential component of the infrastructure that can facilitate continued economic growth. Ten times faster than its 4G predecessor, it is projected that the economic potential of 5G in Ireland will equate to €12 billion of GDP by 2030 as reported by Amárach.

Ken McGrath, Head of Public Sector Sales with Three Ireland, outlines the advantages of 5G within the post-Covid public sector landscape, as well as exploring network security and resilience, data as a solution, and Three’s ambitions for the future.

“Three Ireland is playing an important role through creating Ireland’s fastest mobile network, and we take pride in it,” McGrath asserts, adding: “Fundamentally, for Three, this is all about the strength of our network. For instance, our 4G network coverage has exceeded 99 per cent and 5G coverage has increased to over 85 per cent, representing a significant improvement when compared with 2021. According to research carried out by Amárach on Three Ireland’s behalf, for every euro invested in 5G, the contribution to the market equates to €2.50. As such, we project no slowdown in our investment in the 5G network.”

Opportunity

The advantages of 5G are many and varied: enhanced mobile broadband which delivers wired speeds via wireless access, ensuring enhanced agility, flexibility to deployment solutions, and, ultimately, productivity for those

story

working remotely. 5G also brings low latency and greater bandwidth to allow business and industry transform, as well as enhancing day-to-day connectivity for users. Indeed, with median download speeds of 217.38Mbps and median upload speeds of 21.03Mbps, Three’s 5G network topped the rankings in the Ookla Speedtest Awards for Ireland during the first six months of 2022.

Given an unprecedented emphasis on employee wellbeing, McGrath contends that mobile broadband facilitates an improved work/life balance while simultaneously ensuring greater interaction between geographically dispersed work teams.

“Enhanced connectivity is all about positive change and there is significant potential within the public sector,” McGrath determines, noting: “This means that people can work flexibly to achieve project completion, for example, while

4

“Our ambition is to sustain the momentum for positive change and ensure that the potential of our 5G infrastructure is realised in delivering a better public service.”

Ken McGrath, Head of Public Sector Sales, Three Ireland

simultaneously delivering a work/life balance.

“Within a hybrid working model, time spent in the office engenders a new type of interaction; it is very focused, target orientated, and conducive to increased productivity. Conversely, commuting into the office on a daily basis is a routine which does not necessarily lend itself to productivity.”

3Connect

Confining organisations to one physical location highlighted a reliance on traditional infrastructure which was exposed during the Covid crisis. Conversely, once mobile connectivity is achieved in any location, it enables public sector organisations to access the

tools to provide mission critical services. For example, having partnered with Aware as its charity partner, Three Ireland assisted the national mental health charity to remain operational during the pandemic.

Traditionally, Aware volunteers fielded inbound calls from a contact centre, located within a single headquarters location. The initial public health announcements in March 2020 presented a challenge in that volunteers could no longer attend headquarters to receive calls.

As a solution, 3Connect – Three’s cloudbased telephony system – allowed Aware to route calls securely to volunteers via an app, empowering Aware to avoid service disruption.

“Through the connectivity and associated solutions that Three Ireland provided, Aware personnel were equipped to receive those calls from several locations. This served to increase Aware’s geographic footprint, meaning that its people could operate effectively from anywhere.

“More broadly, we have observed the video conferencing tools being deployed by organisations to enable working from home. Wireless broadband services deliver seamless connectivity to ensure interaction equivalent to an office environment,” McGrath explains.

3Mobile Protect

However, the Head of Public Sector Sales is cognisant of the security vulnerabilities associated with remote working. “One challenge that has emerged for organisations is the significant expansion of the attack surface; it is no longer isolated to a single location. Strategically, for public sector organisations, this has necessitated an enhanced awareness of preventative measures.

“At Three Ireland, we know how important security is for our customers, and it is our utmost priority to ensure our customers feel safe in the knowledge that we have solutions available to protect them. We have our finger on the pulse, understanding that if people are

“Digital transformation does not exist without network access and associated flexibility.”

utilising a mobile broadband service, there are applications that guarantee endpoint protection,” he says.

Following the May 2021 ransomware attack on the HSE, Donegal ETB – the largest further education and training services provider in the State – observed a surge in the targeting of its employees’ phones by SMS phishing scams. Given the increased prevalence of employees teaching remotely, a cybersecurity challenge emerged.

Consequently, 3Mobile Protect – a mobile threat defence solution for mobile devices and tablets – was deployed to 200 Donegal ETB devices. Within a single day, this software detected and blocked 1,600 attempted security breaches, as well as over 5,000 separate network traffic requests, ultimately preventing data leakage from Donegal ETB.

“The strength of 3Mobile Protect stems from the absence of compromise when it comes to security on a device, ensuring that when an employee is connecting to the internet or receives a communication via the internet, they are not inadvertently exposed to a threat vector,” McGrath states.

Data as a solution

Allied to enhanced connectivity and bandwidth comes increased volumes of data. Data lakes are centralised repositories which contain significant amounts of raw data which can be analysed to create simulations to assist with decision-making.

“Connectivity is providing new insights. The opportunity is to make those data insights useful in an Irish context. Indeed, the anonymised mobility data that Three Ireland gathers from the 5G network can enable simulations and insights, while simultaneously ensuring that our customers are never compromised.

“For instance, throughout Covid, insights into movement of people were important. As we enter the new normal and experience a resurgence in tourism, that data is going to be vital in relation to the continued growth of the economy. For instance, utilising some of the datasets, we can establish the origin locations of visitors, identifying where

they are congregating in Ireland from a geographic perspective,” the Head of Public Sector Sales elucidates.

“Data as a solution hinges on asking intuitive questions. From a public policy perspective, there is not a government department or public service agency that would not benefit from these anonymised data insights and Three Ireland offers great opportunities for partnership.”

Smart cities

Similarly, within the Smart Cities sphere, Three Ireland is at the nexus of an Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem, collaborating with Smart Dublin, academia, and other mobile operators to identify new solutions that provide for a better user experience and efficiency via real-time data.

“Three Ireland is the largest IoT provider in the country. Amid the ongoing cost-ofliving crisis and energy usage, smart applications and monitoring have engendered unprecedented significance,” McGrath notes.

Talent

During the pandemic, the significance of talent management was reinforced within Three Ireland’s public sector team. “We know we have a great network, but we also have great people. This talent is evident across Three and our customer

Profile: Ken McGrath

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orientated approach pervades the entire organisation,” he emphasises.

“Our public sector team specifically understands the customers that it serves, the challenges that they are experiencing, and helps to identify the solutions that consolidate long-term relationships. We do not take these relationships for granted and are ambitious to keep improving. We have a strong sense of how we are performing through our customer insight surveys and we score very highly in critical aspects such as account management, billing, and network experience.”

Ambitions

Public sector agencies require relationships that have longevity. As such, McGrath’s team strives to facilitate as positive an experience as possible by ensuring that its public sector customers have the connectivity – as well as the innovative solutions layered on top –necessary to deliver their services.

“We are investing in the people that come into our team, developing the propositions specific to securing new contracts in the next 12 months. Our ambition is to sustain the momentum for positive change and ensure that the potential of our 5G infrastructure is realised in delivering a better public service,” he concludes.

A graduate of Athlone Institute of Technology and Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, Ken McGrath is a results driven, strategic senior sales leader with over 25 years in the ICT sector. Having served as Head of Public Sectors Sales with eir Business for over five years, McGrath moved to the same role with Three Ireland in September 2019 and has been in situ for over three years.

As well as his passion for sales, McGrath is also a committed volunteer, serving as volunteer, sponsor, mentor, and ambassador across various organisations such as the Khan Academy, NDRC, eir Fund, the GDPR Awareness Coalition and the Health Service Executive’s eHealth Ireland Innovation Week and Digital Natives eHealth 2030 competition.

Minister Eamon Ryan TD: “Our whole forestry system has to change”

Ryan states that Budget 2023 shows that “all three government parties are committed to working in a way which ensures that these three sectors deliver an integrated response”.

“This year the retrofit budget has went from about €300 million to €500 million in 2023. Wider industry knows that retrofitting is inevitable and they are able to gear up to face the biggest obstacle coming, which is getting workers, as they can have confidence in our budgets. In previous years, funding was stop-start”.

On agriculture, the Minister outlines spending increases announced in the Budget: “There is €500 million within the agricultural budget, committed to agrienvironment schemes, addressing biodiversity loss within agriculture. This is a key part of what we need to do. The

farming community, in my opinion, is starting to clearly buy into it; it has been transformed because people know that it makes economic sense as well as environmental sense. We are starting to see the change we need in Irish agriculture.”

Land use review

Ryan states that the concept of land use reform has come a long way since the formation of the Government, and promotes the land use review as key to achieving emissions reductions.

“We found it very difficult in the initial negotiations for the Programme for Government to even say ‘land use plan’ for fear that you are just telling a farmer or a forester what to do.

“From my point of view, the [land use] review is critical as it is the central key

mechanism to make sure that we are engaged in pollution reduction, restoration of biodiversity, as well as the lowering of emissions. It is half way through its course, the first half being an evidence gathering phase in collaboration with the EPA, Teagasc, and other state agencies.”

He further outlines the necessity for ensuring that the land use review “now moves onto the policy formulation side” and that prioritises rural communities, ensuring that they play their part in “restoring biodiversity, reducing emissions, and addressing the water nitrogen and ammonia pollution problems”.

He adds: “In certain parts of the country you see the ammonia and nitrogen issue flaring because of an intensive agriculture practice primarily.”

Minister Eamon Ryan TD says it is critical to ensure an integrated approach to the challenges of the climate, biodiversity, and pollution crises.

Scope for biomethane production

Looking to the sectoral emissions ceilings outlined in the Programme for Government, Minister Ryan outlines his belief in the potential of the agricultural sector in playing a role in production of biogas.

“The agriculture sector in this country is very much geared towards grass growth. However, they could take half of that grass growth and feed it into anaerobic digestion, mixed with waste products, and the slurry from the remaining herd on the other side of the farm. That process, if adopted by our agricultural sector on a wide scale, can give us a source of gas which is potentially sustainable.”

He continues: “You could have a farm producing its own gas, running its own machinery, running a CHP plant off it for its own use, and still have an export capability. With that, you still have a real potential to use the digestate to fertilise the land rather than synthetic, artificial, fossil-based fertilisers. From that you can then start to get a circular, sustainable solution which delivers on climate, helps with biodiversity, and helps with pollution.”

Managing forestry and wetlands

Ryan believes that “Our whole forestry has to change; a clear felling monoculture, short rotation crop system, whilst it may deliver a lot of timber and could even be seen as a storer of carbon, is not good for biodiversity and it

does not help with our pollution problems”.

He adds: “The Bill for riparian forestry systems, being worked on by [Minister of State] Pippa Hackett TD, has huge potential benefits; it allows us to expand and increase our store of carbon in forestry, our land use sector is the sector where we do not currently have the necessary carbon storage solutions.”

The Minister states that it is crucial to begin “re-wetting our lands”, and acknowledges that this will mean significant reform for agricultural practices.

“This is going to be very difficult because for 50 years we have been telling farmers to drain their land, optimise it, and get maximum output. Now we are saying ‘block the drains, wet the land’.

“By managing grazing and wetland management, which is good for birdlife and good for biodiversity, you do not just let it go wild in the sense that you see hazel, birch, and other treelines coming up because that would drain the land for carbon. We want to manage grazing and wetlands so that we can manage the storing of carbon in the peaty soils where you manage it as a wetland area, thus helping in the storing of that carbon and at the same time getting an agricultural output.”

The Minister concludes by stating that: “We need to know how to ensure that these complementary but different sectors can work in tandem to stop climate change, restore nature, and reduce pollution.”

“We want to manage grazing and wetlands so that we can manage the storing of carbon in the peaty soils where you manage it as a wetland area, thus helping in the storing of that carbon and at the same time getting an agricultural output.”

Renewable gas is critical to energy security and to achieving net zero carbon by 2050

Gas Networks Ireland hosted a round table discussion on how renewable gas can underpin Ireland’s energy security and play a key role in decarbonising the energy system.

What role will renewable gas play in simultaneously delivering Ireland’s energy security and its net zero carbon ambition?

Denis O’Sullivan

There is an obvious role for biomethane and other renewable gases substituting for natural gas. Renewable gas will also support the rollout of renewable electricity. We have very ambitious renewable electricity targets, and it will be very difficult to provide a back-up when those intermittent renewable

sources, such as wind and solar, are not there. Ireland’s electricity future is predominantly wind, with some solar, and then biomethane and hydrogen. Hydrogen production will also be intermittent as it will be produced from renewable electricity. Therefore, biomethane is really the only renewable fuel source that is fully dispatchable in terms of energy security of supply until we have hydrogen storage at scale. The current focus on energy security has highlighted the need for the diversity in energy supply that biomethane and hydrogen will bring.

John Reilly

Although biogas is peripheral today, it will become crucial. We cannot achieve the level of intermittent renewable electricity needed to meet carbon budgets without dispatchable back-up capacity. The role of gas in getting us to zero carbon on the electricity system is well understood. The key question therefore is how we decarbonise that gas and how quickly do we want to do that. We have just completed a study looking out to 2035, and we see Ireland achieving more than 90 per cent renewable electricity, mainly from wind energy. At that level we will be producing a lot of excess energy that could be used to produce green hydrogen, thereby reducing constraints on the power system. Locating electrolysers strategically on the network could facilitate the injection of that green hydrogen into the gas network, thereby reducing the volume of natural gas required to meet demand. In 2035, if you assume the electricity system has a demand of 45 TWh, you only need about 4.5 TWh of gas-fired electricity. This year we will produce circa 16 TWh of gas-fired

Round table discussion hosted by

electricity. If 50 per cent of gas used comes in the form of a blend of biomethane and green hydrogen by 2035, then carbon emissions from electricity generation will be below 1 MT annually.

Tom O’Brien

In Ireland, we have been very successful in decarbonising the electricity system. We now need to start decarbonising heat. Ireland has among the lowest levels of renewable heat across Europe.

Renewable gas will play a critical role in that. The war in Ukraine has also accelerated the focus around security of energy supply. Increasing domestic gas self-sufficiency is now hugely important. There is also a strong demand from industry for renewable gas, particularly in sectors that are hard to decarbonise such as food and beverage production.

Compared to the rest of Europe, we have a lot of catching up to do.

Jerry Murphy

As an academic you are always looking to the future. I could have had this conversation in 1992 when I finished my master’s degree in biomethane. I have led the International Energy Agency

Bioenergy Biogas task group for six years and have seen some fabulous case studies and seen what individual countries are doing. For example, Denmark has 25 per cent renewable gas averaged over the year; it has a farreaching strategy out to 2035 to approach a fully decarbonised gas grid.

Their biomethane industry started with a concept of minimising spreading of slurry to land as it was polluting water courses; they built large AD plants to treat slurries and wastes. In Switzerland, I have seen energy co-ops with wind and PV, with biogas to provide for the night-time demand. This co-op is able to produce energy at a time the market needs it, and biogas is a key element in doing that. I have seen a lot of bespoke solutions such as trucks using liquified biomethane, produced from slaughter waste, to fuel 1,000km of heavy truck transport from one fill in Sweden. Unlike a wind turbine, a biogas plant is usually built for a reason beyond just energy, typically to treat a waste stream.

John Melvin

In terms of the path to net zero, certainly renewable gas will have a significant role to play. We now have five-year carbon budgets that we must meet and meeting the 2025 budget will be very difficult, for example, we recently published a paper that shows that, for the first time in many 4

Roundtable participants

John Melvin

John Melvin was appointed as the Director of Security of Supply and Wholesale Markets in CRU in February 2022 having previously been the Director of Energy Markets and Smart Metering and before that the Director of Energy Networks and Legal. The Security of Supply and Wholesale Division is leading a programme of actions to ensure a secure energy transition to 2030 and beyond. The Division oversees the wholesale all-island Single Electricity Market (SEM) in cooperation with the Utility Regulator in Belfast.

Jerry Murphy

Jerry Murphy is Director of the SFI MaREI Centre for energy, climate and marine and Professor of Civil Engineering in University College Cork. He led the Biogas Task of the International Energy Agency (IEA) Bioenergy from 2016 to 2021 and has edited and authored numerous IEA Bioenergy reports. He was awarded the Engineers Ireland Excellence Award (2015) for best paper/presentation, the Marine Industry Award for Excellence in Marine Research (2017), an adjunct professorship in University of Southern Queensland (2018), a fellowship of the Irish Academy of Engineers in 2019 and was elected to the international advisory board of DBFZ (German Bioenergy Research Centre) in 2020.

Tom O’Brien

Tom O’Brien is Managing Director of Nephin Energy, Ireland’s largest domestic producer of natural gas. He has over 20 years’ experience in the energy industry and has worked on many of Ireland’s largest windfarm projects including its only producing offshore wind farm project to date. He was senior adviser and project lead in Ireland for CPPIB's $1.23 billion acquisition of Shell's interest in the Corrib Gas Field and now leads the company that would eventually own CPPIB's interest in the field, Nephin Energy. He holds an LLB from University College Cork, an LLM from University College London and a diploma in finance from University College Dublin.

Denis O’Sullivan

Denis O’Sullivan is the Chief Operating Officer of Gas Networks Ireland, the semi-state organisation responsible for operating Ireland’s €2.7 billion, 14,617km national gas network, and ensuring the safe and reliable delivery of gas to more than 706,000 homes and businesses across the country. He has been at the forefront of Ireland’s energy sector for over 20 years with experience in conventional and renewable energies, including natural gas, wind energy, biomass, and waste to energy. O’Sullivan is also the co-chair of the Low Carbon Economy Group with Business in the Community.

John Reilly

John Reilly is Head of Renewable Energy at Bord na Móna. His team is currently leading a €1.6 billion investment programme which will see the company add at least 1GW of new renewable assets to its fleet by 2030. Reilly has over 20 years’ experience in the energy sector and was previously part of the senior management team at Edenderry Power, prior to its acquisition by Bord na Móna. He has worked for a number of major international utility players in the sector, such as the German utility E.ON and Fortum, a Finnish utility company. He holds a PhD in Chemistry from UCD.

roundtable discussion

years, the carbon intensity of electricity in the single electricity market has increased. Both hydrogen and biomethane will have an important role to play on the way to net zero. In the short term, we need to inject biomethane into the system and we are now seeing that. The development of hydrogen at a European level, and also at an Irish level, will be key over the next number of years. The oil crisis in the 1970s led to the progress, in leaps and bounds, of energy efficiency. The confluence of the transition to net zero and the need to move away from Russian gas can lead Europe to make a bold move in the development of hydrogen. For Ireland’s energy independence, what fuels we can produce on the island are critical. When we have excess electricity supply, we need to have a means of storing that and batteries and hydrogen will play key roles. Looking at the supply chain for batteries, that will not bring independence for Europe and therefore hydrogen is crucial. We should also ensure that any gas-fired electricity plant is hydrogen-ready, and any further gas infrastructure should be future proofed in terms of hydrogen.

Denis O’Sullivan

We are a laggard. In 2019, there was a

target set of 1.6 TWh of renewable gas, which equates to roughly 3 per cent of gas consumed in Ireland, as a biomethane target. That target held until the EU proposed a 10 per cent target, 5.7 TWh. I do not believe that Ireland would have moved to that target if it had not come from the EU. We have had

How will the acceleration of renewable gas development align with the European policy context?

“In decarbonising the heavy transport sector in Ireland, there will need to be change but this impact can be minimised for the citizen by industry working together and realising the opportunities associated with decarbonisation.” Jerry Murphy

“If 50 per cent of gas used comes in the form of a blend of biomethane and green hydrogen by 2035, then carbon emissions from electricity generation will be below 1 MT annually.” John Reilly

electrification as our predominant policy for the last number of years; now is the time when we need a refocusing on the complementary technologies that are out there such as biomethane. We are not going to achieve our targets solely by electrification, we need alternatives. We need to up our game in terms of policy measures and supports for these alternatives.

John Reilly

This year we hosted the German minister responsible for green hydrogen. He visited a number of sites and was very impressed with the potential Ireland has for green hydrogen production at scale but was underwhelmed by the absence of a coherent strategy. That is something we need to address quickly to ensure alignment with Europe. Therefore, the Government is due to produce a hydrogen strategy for Ireland, which can’t come soon enough, as every time Ursula von der Leyen gives a speech about security of supply, green hydrogen seems to be at the core of the speech. We know in Ireland that when we put coherent policies in place, the sector delivers. Look what has happened with wind energy, while on the flip side we have made little progress on biomethane in a country that should be leading the way given our resources.

Tom O’Brien

The European Commission found that Ireland has the best agri-feedstock per capita in Europe, but we are only one of

three countries in Europe without a policy to incentivise renewable gas development. Now look at what Denmark, the next best country, has achieved – 25 per cent of gas from renewable sources and, at times during this summer, 100 per cent of daily gas requirement was coming from renewable sources. We have an agricultural sector that wants to decarbonise and wants to identify new revenue streams, but we have not done anything yet to empower the sector. REPowerEU has biomethane explicitly included for targets and funding supports and will nudge Ireland along. Hopefully the momentum we see at a European level will spur local policymakers into action.

Jerry Murphy

REPowerEU is important with its doubling of the biomethane target. Ireland is at the back of the class; I am one of the most cited academics with regard to biomethane and there is nothing of merit in my own country to look at. Denmark does not use any energy crops; by 2030, raw slurry may not be spread on the land and from this they have created a biogas industry supplying 25 per cent of the natural gas market. There is exasperation; we look at offshore wind, and MARA is a problem for us. We do not have planning beyond 12 nautical miles. Delegations from the Netherlands and Germany are upset that we have this fantastic resource, but we cannot start. Scotland and England had these laws in place since 2012;

Scotland’s offshore infrastructure is incredible and now they are making hydrogen at sea. We are so far behind.

John Melvin

The development of renewable gas could not have any greater alignment with the European policy. Prior to the invasion of Ukraine, it was clear that decarbonisation was needed. We do have biomethane on the system in Ireland, nowhere near the scale needed to meet targets but the first step has been taken. The decarbonisation piece has always been there and the pivot from carbon capture and storage towards hydrogen was visible prior to the invasion. Since then, the production of renewable gasses within Europe has tied in much more strongly for the achievement of strategic autonomy, which the UK has always had an eye on, hence their LNG development long in advance of the decline in their indigenous production.

How is your organisation supporting the development of renewable gas in Ireland?

Denis O’Sullivan

We do have biomethane coming onto the network, it represents less than 1 per cent but what it does is set the 4

roundtable

“We are not going to achieve our targets solely by electrification, we need alternatives. We need to up our game in terms of policy measures and supports for these alternatives.” Denis O’Sullivan

framework for how we will bring larger volumes of biomethane onto the network, how we treat safety requirements, etc. That was done in the absence of policy. The pent-up potential is significant; GNI has approximately 150 projects on the books waiting for a market signal through policy to deliver. The demonstration project is working well but we are moving on from that and the next step is the construction of a large central injection point that has received planning permission. GNI can pull the trigger on that tomorrow but the AD plants that need to be constructed will not be in the absence of supports.

John Reilly

I have had the privilege in Bord na Móna to operate under three CEOs and we have had three runs at biomethane and AD, but progress has been slow for a variety of reasons. We have recently secured planning permission for an 80,000-tonne anaerobic digestor just outside of Portlaoise and we are working with GNI to facilitate the direct injection of the biomethane produced into the gas network. One frustration is the length of time it takes to secure planning for a process and facility that is widely used all

over the world. The planning permission has been appealed to the High Court, as that unfortunately is how things go with infrastructure development in Ireland. We hope to have the facility operating in 2025 as part of our wider decarbonisation strategy, which includes the production of green hydrogen at our Mountlucas wind farm to displace distillate from our peaking capacity.

Jerry Murphy

We have 250 researchers at the moment; we have graduated 100 PhDs and we have 100 PhDs in place. We are in the production of intelligence around energy, climate, and marine. We look at where the electrolyser can be positioned, the cost of producing hydrogen, circular economy systems, etc. 250 people come in every day to do research on these types of topics and then go into the atmosphere; 49 per cent have stayed in Ireland. We look at decarbonisation pathways from many perspectives. We have lawyers, ecologists, engineers, and scientists and have 110 industries who have or had contracts with us codesigning practical optimised solutions to sustainability and decarbonisation.

Tom O’Brien

Nephin Energy is well positioned to participate in the industry if it takes off here. We have extensive experience in the production and sale of gas in Ireland and with our capital strength I think we

could develop an interesting biomethane business. I think our existing gas buyers would love the opportunity to buy renewable gas from us. There is unmet demand out there for renewable gas, even in the absence of the Renewable Heat Obligation (RHO), which is not to say it is not needed, it is and fast. We desperately need the right regulatory and policy environment for this industry to really take off.

John Melvin

One of the key things we can do is give the funds and incentives to system operators. In the case of GNI, John is anxious that the gas connection gets built quickly to move from distillate to natural gas. The evidence is that GNI can get infrastructure into planning and through construction, so the funds and incentives are there. The innovation fund that we brought in PC3 and PC4 has brought through the pilot methane and compressed natural gas projects to bring lower carbon fuels into transport. That mechanism has delivered to promote these innovations and the aims of the fund are the delivery of carbon savings, increasing the through-put through the gas system, and providing measurable value to customers. As we move into PC5, we would expect a similar approach. Those funds have so far been used to display that these things can be done here.

“We have already managed this through careful changes to the code of operations for biomethane injection and changes to the safety case. The consumer can be assured that there will be no difference in terms of safety.” John Melvin

Denis O’Sullivan

One of the things that we have prioritised is that the end user will have no real change of experience from where they are today. If a customer is using natural gas today, and we blend in anything from 1 per cent to 100 per cent biomethane, they will have no change in their experience. In terms of hydrogen, we are testing blends into our network without impacting the customer experience. Hydrogen is different from biomethane as it is a different chemical construct and we have shown so far that you can blend up to 30 per cent hydrogen without impacting the customer on the distribution system. We have more testing to do on the transmission system and the power generation sector so that they can facilitate hydrogen. We are confident that we can bring the distribution and transmission system to 100 per cent hydrogen over time.

John Melvin

What is clear is that the user experience will have the same level of safety as it does now. We have already managed this through careful changes to the code of operations for biomethane injection and changes to the safety case. The consumer can be assured that there will be no difference in terms of safety.

Jerry Murphy

In terms of transport, in Linköping they have a slaughter facility in operation since the 90s where they digest by-products to provide fuel for 85 buses. This was a system set up by their farmers association, the university, the municipality, and the bus company. The biogas facility recently lost the contract supplying biogas for the bus service, so they set up liquified biomethane service station for trucks that are now able to travel up to 1,000km on one fill which is suitable for long distance haulage. The biogas facility worked closely with their stakeholders to deal with changes. In decarbonising the heavy transport sector in Ireland, there will need to be change but this impact can be minimised for the citizen by industry working together and realising the opportunities associated with decarbonisation.

What one thing should government do to support the development of renewable gas deployment in Ireland?

John Reilly

We need a coherent, robust policy

framework for biomethane and other renewable gases that contribute to the decarbonisation of the gas network. That framework should include appropriate supports, similar to those seen in wind energy. I did a PhD in pharmaceutical chemistry and when doing that I was rather excited by large complex molecules. I hope to finish my career by being excited by the smallest molecule known to mankind, hydrogen.

Denis O’Sullivan

Energy system integration, which is highlighted in the Climate Action Plan. There needs to be a coherent plan between gas and electricity and a policy pathway clearly laying out that pathway with relevant supports put into place. At the moment every sector has their own targets, and we need a coherent plan across all sectors.

Tom O’Brien

We are likely to have a stick in the form of the RHO, but as we have seen across Europe, we need a carrot in terms of grants or subsidies to accelerate growth, particularly in the early years. We also need to look at our planning system.

Germany and Austria have benefitted from easier transparent planning for AD development.

Jerry Murphy

I have seen very granular policy in Germany that dictates how much water to have in slurry, etc. I have seen higher level policy such as in Denmark, which introduced a phase out over 20 years in application of raw slurry to land which led to the development of biogas facilities of scale. The best way to develop the renewable gas sector in Ireland is to mandate a graduated increasing percentage of gas to be from renewable sources over defined time periods.

John Melvin

CRU has Action 54 in CAP 21, expanding the successful public sector energy efficiency monitoring and reporting programme to incorporate GHG emissions reduction. We need to swiftly decarbonise the gas grid through biomethane and hydrogen, which will facilitate growth on the way to net zero. The sooner we decarbonise our own economy, the sooner we can look at opportunities to export clean energy.

roundtable discussion

How will the transition to renewable gas determine the end-user experience?

“The European Commission found that Ireland has the best agri-feedstock per capita in Europe but we are only one of three countries in Europe without a policy to incentivise renewable gas development.”

Tom O’Brien

How secure is cloud storage? A look at data security risks in the cloud

In the event of an escalation of hostilities in the international sphere, exposed cloud systems would be a natural target. Researchers have already observed some activity of this sort, targeting cloud databases located in Russia. Some compromised databases had file names replaced with anti-war messages, but the largest number were completely wiped.

How to secure your cloud databases?

There are several changes that can be made to help mitigate risks of data held to ransom, destructive attacks, or data leakage. They include:

• Limit permissions: Apply principle of least privilege to users and cloud accounts, thereby minimising risk exposure.

As cloud systems are increasingly the foundation on which digital transformation is built, paying attention to their security is essential in cybersecurity best practice.

In the past, the Irish Computer Society has reported that more than half of Irish companies have suffered a data breach within the past year. For a long time, cybersecurity experts and government agencies have been urging organisations to enhance their cyber-defences due to the increased threat of cyberattacks.

Cloud resources are particularly vulnerable as many can be misconfigured and left without protection. Online databases could be an attractive target for attackers. In fact, researchers have already observed raids on cloud databases, and there are plenty of threat actors out there waiting to take advantage.

Cloud systems provide a relatively low cost, scalable, and flexible way to store and manage data, with a lower management burden for IT, built-in disaster recovery and anywhere, anytime access. As a backend for applications, databases stored in the public cloud could contain:

• business-critical corporate data;

• personally identifiable information belonging to employees and customers;

• highly sensitive IP and trade secrets; and

• IT/admin information such as APIs or encryption keys, which could be leveraged in future attacks.

If any of this data found its way into the wrong hands, it could be hugely damaging for a victim organisation, potentially leading to regulatory fines, legal costs, IT overtime costs, lost productivity and sales, client or customer dissatisfaction and reputational damage.

Once left exposed due to misconfiguration, databases can be relatively easily found with internet scanning tools. So, the challenge facing defenders is they need to get security right every time, whereas attackers need only get lucky once.

Cloud misconfiguration can take many forms, the most common being:

• missing access restrictions;

• security group policies which are too permissive;

• a lack of permissions controls;

• misunderstood internet connectivity paths;

• misconfigured virtualised network functions; and

• cloud systems are already being targeted.

• Encrypt data: Apply strong encryption to business-critical or highly regulated data to mitigate the impact of a leak.

• Check for compliance before provisioning: Prioritise infrastructureas-code and automate policy configuration checks as early as possible in the development lifecycle.

• Continuously audit: Cloud resources are notoriously ephemeral and changeable, while compliance requirements will also evolve over time. That makes continuous configuration checks against policy essential. Consider a Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) tools to automate and simplify this process.

As cloud infrastructure grows, so does the cyberattack surface and these best practices should be applied to mitigate mounting cyber risk.

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CCAC: Ireland falling well short of emissions targets

The Climate Change Advisory Council (CCAC) annual review has found that only two sectors are making ‘good progress’ in the implementation of the National Adaption Framework and the allowances made in the carbon budget.

The report states that carbon budgets can still be met in spite of the failure to meet the targets set by the Government, but that the war in Ukraine and subsequent energy supply crisis means that significant and early action is required which is consistent with a just transition.

Next national adaption framework

The report states that, whilst the National Adaption Framework and sectoral and local adaption strategies provide a solid foundation for new initiatives, that the model which has been used is “no longer sufficient” owing to the marginal, incremental, and procedural process to achieving adaption in the State.

Recommending a revision of the National Adaptation Framework, the report recommends integration with mitigation, sustainable development, and disaster risk

reduction. It further recommends that all existing sectoral adaption plans should be revised and updated with additional plans required for sectors such as financial services, tourism and sport, and the built environment, as well as urgent attention needed for coastal resilience.

CCAC further outlines that the National Adaption Framework and plans under it should be informed by regular national risk assessment and clearly prioritise actions and investments. It further states that decision-makers in the Government and the Civil Service need to better supported in adaption planning, including by providing adequate financial support for planning on a sustained basis.

“Adaption governance structures will also need to be revised and restructured to ensure cross-cutting issues that go across multiple sectors are addressed,” the report states. It further outlines that more

meaningful leadership and coordination across government on climate adaption action are required, calling on the Government to “urgently set forth and then monitor a set of national resilience indicators” to measure the State’s climate resilience and assess progress towards achieving climate resistant development.

For the next National Adaption Framework, the report states that it is critical for an initial adaption budget to be set for 2030, which will follow an assessment of what is required to make the State climate resilient by 2030. “This budget must be determined in light of the social cost of climate change over a least the next 30 years and must reflect the need to prioritise funding for adaption to a significantly greater degree than is currently the case.”

Implementation gap

The report reiterates the concerns raised in the 2021 review, namely that climate ambitions are not being matched by verifiable actions.

Ireland failed to meet its 2020 target of a 20 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and has thus been forced to use allowances purchased from other member states who exceeded their targets. This failure is further exacerbated by the fact that many heavypolluting sectors, such as transport, were inoperative for a large proportion of 2020 due to the Covid-19 lockdowns which took place that year.

“EPA emissions projections suggest that Ireland could meet its no-ETS EU targets of a 30 per cent emissions reduction by 2030, assuming full implementation of planned policies and measures and the use of the flexibles available,” the report states. However, it expresses concerns that the provisional non-ETS emissions in 2021 are 46.2 MtCO2eq, which is above the annual emissions target of 43.5 MtCO2eq. The Fit for 55 package, currently being negotiated, will further increase the emissions ambitions for the EU and this will have to be accounted for at Government level.

The report states that achieving compliance with national and EU targets will require a significant acceleration in the planning of new measures and full and rapid implementation of the measures already announced will be necessary to achieve these goals.

The report additionally outlines delays to delivery which form a core part of the implementation gap, namely the delays in the implementation of the Climate Action Plan.

It continues: “Ireland is one of only four EU member states not to have submitted a long-term climate strategy. Other high impact measures, which have been delayed, include the development of a roadmap to promote higher use of low-carbon materials in construction and examining how and when fossil fuel heating systems can be phased out of public buildings.”

CCAC calls for the continuation of the quarterly reports on the progress of the Climate Action Plan, stating that it provided some analysis of the main reasons for the implementation delay, adding that “it is clear that adequate resourcing is at the root of many of these issues”.

It further calls for the next Climate Action Plan to place increased focus on defining the details of planned implementation pathways and identification of further measures across all sectors.

The report concludes by stating that the carbon budgets are useful in that they set clear targets and ensures that the Government can be accountable for the implementation of the emissions frameworks, but that a greater level of urgency on achieving these goals is needed, and that it would have the additional benefit of making Ireland energy secure.

Digital solutions for the public sector

are following the once-only principle, where a citizen does not need to continuously give government agencies the same information over and over because the Government has already got that information. They look to make it easy for the citizen to supply the information the government does not have and provide simple options to achieve this. They keep the steps minimal and avoid delays, ultimately keeping the citizen informed throughout the journey.”

John Stobie, Regional Vice President of Public Sector Sales for Salesforce Ireland, and Paul Pick-Aluas, Regional Vice President of Public Sector Strategy and Transformation for Salesforce Europe, speak to eolas about how Salesforce enables governments to move from reactive service to proactive service.

“We speak to many different stakeholders in government in many different countries,” Stobie says. “There has been a mindset change from the point of view of the way government has traditionally operated. It has always been in more of a reactive mode, whereby it received requests from citizens and businesses and processed those requests.”

Such requests concerned anything from information on benefits to grant applications and driver’s license renewals. In the last number of years,

Stobie says, Salesforce has seen a concerted effort to digitise government and move it away from this reactive mode to a proactive mode.

“When we say proactive government, we mean the scenario where the Government is not just waiting for you to ask for something, but anticipating needs based on knowing upcoming events or the situation a citizen is in, and it is reaching out to you to help you in terms of initiating the interaction you are going to require to get the service you want or need,” Stobie explains. “They

Salesforce believes that there are three key methodologies that the Government must apply, in tandem, to achieve this transformation: human-centred design, continuous improvement, and process automation. With the elimination of paper, including digital paper such as PDFs that remain the biggest source of cost in many processes, Salesforce attest that this process can both create an efficient system and cut costs.

“There was a recent example where it was estimated that EU taxpayers would save €50 billion annually if they accepted electronic invoicing,” Stobie says. “The costs that come from this process is an important aspect as well; as citizens, we face direct costs in terms of the time we spend learning and applying for the services, the fees we pay, the transport we pay for to go to physical offices and the indirect costs such as solicitors, lost wages, lost revenues for businesses.”

The US offers an international example of a state further down the line of this process, and Pick-Aluas offers the example of its Department of Agriculture (USDA). With around 100,000 employees in more than 4,500 locations offering services as diverse as crop insurance, conservation programmes, commodity management, technical assistance, lending, and disaster relief to farmers, ranchers, and agricultural producers, the sector was “very suitable for the methodologies of proactive government”.

John Stobie, Regional Vice President of Public Sector Sales for Salesforce Ireland.

Paul Pick-Aluas, Regional Vice President of Public Sector Strategy and Transformation for Salesforce Europe.

The US federal government began an initiative to stand up centres of excellence, starting with the USDA, and reimagine portfolios of services to break down silos and improve efficiency. This was, in part, to tackle an issue of funding in some programmes being unclaimed due to those eligible being unable to navigate the system. Accenture and Salesforce built a one-stop shop where these farmers, ranchers and producers could fill out a variety of forms, check loan balances and statuses, apply for disaster relief, and find the most convenient office when there was still a need to go in. Seven digital platforms and 150 federal web resources were consolidated into a single platform.

“The way we went about this was starting with human-centred design, considering what the service journey should look like and realigning systems with a single engagement layer to provide a better experience,” Pick-Aluas says. “We managed to bring it all on one platform and connect the data to automate the steps in a systematic way. For instance, if you apply for a loan or crop insurance, they already have your information and are not going to ask you again for the same information. They managed to get more of the funding out, and to date the funding is in the tens of billions of dollars. It has significantly improved the experience for the users and employees and driving cost efficiency by reducing friction points and reliance on paper.

“This is what we hope to do in Europe as well. It is about human-centred design, not just user-centred design. There has often been far too much emphasis on the engagement layer alone, implementing portals, etc, which are first steps in the transformation journey but often they become the only step and thus a veneer on a broken system offering marginal improvements in the citizen experience. Limited or no attention is given to the business processes that need to be reengineered.”

Salesforce’s work with the Irish public sector is, of course, happening in the context of Connecting Government 2030, the Irish Government’s digital strategy. “When you look at the different areas in there, there is a lot of the collaborative side, the integration between different departments, and it is a

question of the implementation,” Stobie says. “It is important having a strategy document, but it comes down to how the different departments and agencies pull those pieces together.”

Pick-Aluas adds: “Connecting Government 2030 gives a good direction but leans too much on the experience side and IT efficiency rather than the service efficiency. It needs to go further. Beyond human-centred design you have the concept of continuous improvement. A lot of times, agencies and departments tend to freeze because the veneer is easy to do while it has its challenges, but the process seems overwhelming.”

Central to addressing these issues is Salesforce’s low-code platform, which provides a platform to layer horizontal enablers to help with document intake, authentication, and generation, as well as vertical solutions that would not have traditionally been considered automation options. Pick-Aluas also speaks with excitement of Salesforce’s recently unveiled project, Genie: “Genie is akin to a citizen data platform in the public sector context as well as master data management. It is more than the sum of the parts, the tools have existed for a long time, but the key thing that it does is drive the automation of data alongside the automation of process steps.”

It is the implementation of such tools and processes, and the evolution of Connecting Government 2030’s vision of human-centred experiences that will allow the proactive approach that the two see as key to progress.

Stobie concludes: “To continue to improve the citizen experience, it is imperative that government continues its progress from the reactive to the responsive and then to be proactive in everything they do. It is not just about the experience, but also the savings that can be made. Ultimately, it all revolves around having the right data platform to automate not just the steps, but the flow of data.”

W: salesforce.com/eu/publicsector

“When we say proactive government, we mean the scenario where the Government is not just waiting for you to ask for something, but anticipating needs based on knowing upcoming events or the situation a citizen is in.”

John Stobie, Regional Vice President of Public Sector Sales, Salesforce Ireland.

Minister of State Ossian Smyth TD: Securing Ireland’s energy future

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications Ossian Smyth TD discusses actions by the Government to mitigate security of supply concerns, energy affordability, and the importance of renewable diversification.

The Green Party TD believes that, whilst Ireland has been successful in onshore wind development, a shortage of offshore wind, solar and anaerobic digestion leaves Ireland “lacking that strength that comes with diversity”.

Security of supply review

Pointing to the security of supply review, currently being undertaken by the Department for the Environment, Climate and Communications, the Minister of State says that it will “examine potential risks to both our natural gas and electricity supplies and examines a range of measures to mitigate these risks”.

Smyth emphasises his belief in the importance of having a diverse renewables portfolio, as well as the

developing storage, demand side response and interconnection which will support the State’s decarbonisation and energy security agenda.

Smyth says that the risks identified and examined as part of the review are demand side risks and supply side risks. Demand side risks include weather events and significant increases in demand whilst the supply side risks that have been identified include a disruption to UK gas imports, geopolitical risks, electricity generation capacity deficits, and low availability of wind generation.

A longlist of mitigation options was created to address the identified risks and then these options were appraised against a set of key criteria to identify a short list of appropriate mitigation options for further analysis.

The key selection criteria used were:

1. consistency with the Climate Action Plan;

2. security of supply impact; and

3. feasibility of implementation.

“A range of measures to mitigate these risks were examined as part of the technical analysis. The mitigation measures include options such as the need for additional capacity to import energy, a reduction in energy use, energy storage, fuel diversification and renewable gases such as biomethane and hydrogen,” the Minister of State explains.

“All of these mitigation options were modelled under a number of shock scenarios to understand the impact of each option and the level of security of supply that they can provide within the timeframe to 2030.”

A consultation on the review of security of energy supply of Ireland’s electricity and gas systems was launched on 19 September 2022.

Tackling the cost-of-living

Smyth states that the Budget was designed to ensure that people are protected from the worst of the consequences of the war in Ukraine, and outlines measures taken in the budget to ensure affordability for consumers which include:

• energy credits worth an additional €600: €600 in additional energy credits will be paid over winter 22/23 in addition to the €200 credit already paid in April/May 2022. These credits will be reflected directly on consumer electricity bills;

• a Public Service Obligation (PSO) rebate worth €89 which the CRU confirmed that the PSO for 22/23 will be negative. Every domestic household will receive this €89 as a credit on their electricity bills, representing an annual saving of €140.76; and

• lower VAT on energy bills worth €64: The 9 per cent VAT rate on energy bills has been extended to February 2023. This represents a gain worth approximately €64 for the average household over the period October 2022 to February 2023.

Smyth adds: “In the longer term, the Government recognises the need to diversify our energy supply and end our reliance on fossil fuels. As such, the Government has in recent months committed to a number of new ambitious targets to increase Ireland’s renewable energy capacity. These include an offshore wind target of 7GW, a solar energy target of 5.5GW and incentivising the use of up to 5.7TWh of anaerobic digestion, all by 2030.”

Security of electricity supply

Stating that the supply of the State’s electricity is linked to the supply of natural gas, the Minister of State says that “about half of electricity generated in Ireland comes from gas-fired power stations. Renewables accounted for 42 per cent of electricity generation, 37 per cent of which was from wind energy alone, but this can be intermittent as back-up is needed when the wind doesn’t blow”.

“Remaining electricity generation comes from a mixture of coal, peat and oil. Ireland’s gas-fired power plants are capable of running on secondary fuel such as oil if there is a disruption to gas supplies; these plants have limited reserves of oil stored onsite for emergency situations.”

Outlining the challenges to electricity supply which arise from situations removed from the war in Ukraine, Smyth states long-term solutions which include “procuring new capacity through capacity auctions; procuring additional temporary generation; extending the availability of existing power stations; and improved demand-side measures”.

“The Government recognises the need to diversify our energy supply and end our reliance on fossil fuels.”

Minister of State Ossian Smyth TD

Data Protection Commission expansion

In July 2022, Minister for Justice Helen McEntee TD announced an expansion of the Data Protection Commission, which will see the commission take on two additional commissioners, with the current commissioner, Helen Dickson, to become the chair.

The Department of Justice has confirmed that the appointments will be made in accordance with Section 15 of the Data Protection Act 2018, which provides for up to three commissioners to be appointed. The process of appointing the two additional commissioners will take up to six months to complete. The terms and conditions of the new commissioners pend the approval of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Michael McGrath TD.

The Data Protection Commission was established in 2018, and has seen its budget grow from an initial €3.6 million to €23.2 million in its four years of operation.

The expansion of the commission follows an examination instigated in 2021 by former Minister for Justice, Heather Humphreys TD, to consider whether an

increase in the membership of the commission should be pursued.

In line with the Government’s commitment to ensure that the DPC can best deliver on its responsibilities, the Department of Justice was requested to consider the matter of appointing additional commissioners, as provided for under the 2018 Act.

The consideration was initiated on the basis that the commission has evolved significantly since its inception. The increased working burden and investigative complexity has been regularly highlighted by the commission itself and its stakeholders.

This is due to a set of powers which have been conferred on the commission, due to both the Regulation and the EU Law

Enforcement Directives, including investigative, corrective, authorisation, and advisory powers on the DPC and that the volume of complaints was also likely to increase.

The move is an effort to continue implementation of the Harnessing Digital strategy, first published in February 2022, which sets out the Government’s intention for the State to be “a digital leader at the heart of European and global digital developments”.

Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee TD says: "[The] Government’s decision sends a strong statement of its intention to continue to build the capacity of the Data Protection Commission, support the existing commissioner and ensure that the commission can continue to deliver on its role.

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The Future of Justice: Interconnectedness and a ‘Whole-System’ Approach to Justice

The Future of Justice: Interconnectedness and a ‘Whole-System’ Approach to Justice

justice report

Helen McEntee TD:

A whole-of-government approach to justice

What are your current priorities as Minister for Justice?

My overall aim as Minister for Justice is to ensure there is a fair, safe, and inclusive Ireland. The Justice Plan 2022 outlines my priorities for 2022, a wide mix of legislative and policy commitments across the civil and criminal briefs of my department. The actions in the Justice Plan will deliver on the Department’s five overarching strategic goals which are to: tackle crime, enhance national security, and transform policing; improve access to justice and modernise the courts system; strengthen community safety, reduce reoffending, support victims, and combat domestic, sexual and gender-based violence; deliver a fair immigration system for a digital age; and accelerate innovation, digital transformation, and climate action across the justice sector.

Finalising and publishing Zero Tolerance, the Third National Strategy against Domestic, Sexual and Gender Based Violence (DSBGV) was one of my key priorities for me this year and implementing it remains a key focus; I want this strategy to result in a sea change to attitudes around the behaviours that perpetuate and to some extent to date have allowed DSGBV to happen in our society to the extent that it does.

Minister for Justice Helen McEntee TD discusses her priorities as minister and the Government’s ambition to deliver a justice system for all.

Credit: Department of Justice

The Future of Justice: Interconnectedness and a ‘Whole-System’ Approach to Justice

What are the key objectives of the Criminal Justice Sectoral Strategy 2022-2024?

The Criminal Justice Sectoral Strategy sets out a vision of a joined-up criminal justice system that protects human rights, builds public confidence and trust, and works together to improve efficiency and the experience of those who rely on us to support a safe, fair, and inclusive Ireland.

The implementation the strategy is overseen by the Criminal Justice Strategic Committee (CJSC) which includes senior leaders from all of the major criminal justice bodies, namely the Department of Justice, An Garda Síochána, Irish Prison Service, Courts Service, Probation Service, Director of Public Prosecutions, Legal Aid Board, and Forensic Science Ireland.

The key objectives of the strategy are to prioritise actions to support our shared commitment to prevent and respond to crime and to reduce harm, work to ensure that good quality, timely information is provided to users and that they are dealt with fairness, dignity, and respect at all stages and to build an innovative culture, embedding system-wide thinking, collaborative working and evidence-based decision-making.

“I believe a collaborative approach is essential in ensuring policy development and decision making is responsive to lived experience and the needs of those most affected. This is not just about collaborating with government departments and services, but about bringing the citizen into the policy making process too.”

Minister for Justice Helen McEntee TD

How has the Department of Justice sought to enhance collaboration and deliver a more cohesive criminal justice system?

I believe a collaborative approach is essential in ensuring policy development and decision making is responsive to lived experience and the needs of those most affected. This is not just about collaborating with government departments and services, but about bringing the citizen into the policymaking process too – that is why we have run wide ranging public consultations, for example on hate crime, DSGBV and Ireland’s alcohol licencing laws, which have invited submissions not just from sectoral stakeholders but from members of the public too.

My department engages in collaborative work with key stakeholders every day and this approach is evident in almost all of our policy and legislative initiatives. For example, when developing the Third National Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Strategy we partnered with the National Women’s Council of Ireland and Safe Ireland to ensure it was lived experience-informed. Implementation of the strategy will rely on a whole-of-government approach.

Another example would be the recent publication of the final report of the High Level Taskforce to consider the mental health and addiction challenges of those who come into contact with the criminal justice sector. The recommendations of the taskforce cut across both the Department of Justice and Department of Health and it ensures a multi-agency approach will be taken to rehabilitating and diverting offenders with addiction or mental health challenges away from crime.

Why is the Third National Domestic, Sexual and GenderBased Violence Strategy 2022-2026 so significant?

The goal and guiding mission of this strategy is clear: zero tolerance in society for domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. Zero tolerance means realising that we have allowed gender-based violence and abuse, and the attitudes and assumptions which underpin it, to

justice report

result in misery for too many, for too long.

It is important that determination to change is reflected in this strategy. That is why this strategy is not just about a criminal justice approach. It is not only about how we can improve policing or the court system or legislation, although all of those and other areas are addressed and are vitally important. It is also about involving wider society and all ages, engaging with everyone to change attitudes and to combat this violence and abuse. Zero tolerance is about ensuring a positive impact on the attitudes of men and boys to domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, while also empowering women and girls. I believe this strategy is the firmest demonstration yet of Ireland’s determination to change.

To what extent are the justice sector’s centenary milestones between 2022 and 2024 an opportunity for reflection?

2022 is a particularly significant year for the Department of Justice as it marks centenaries of the establishment of An Garda Síochána, the occupation of the Four Courts and the enactment of the Irish Free State constitution.

The Future of Justice: Interconnectedness and a ‘Whole-System’ Approach to Justice

It is a huge honour to serve as Minister for Justice at any time, but particularly so in this, the centenary year of An Garda Síochána. I have been so proud throughout this year to hear the stories and mark the courage and service of our Gardaí, our ‘Guardians of the Peace’, as part of the Decade of Centenaries Programme.

This phase of the programme focuses on a period which saw the foundation of the State and the establishment of many of the institutions which have served us since then. This year’s Garda centenary is a cornerstone of the programme across the justice sector over the next three years.

As you have highlighted, these events offer an opportunity to reflect on our history, on those who have lost their lives in service to the nation and its people, and on the immense efforts of those who built the foundations of our new nation.

It also gives us the chance to look back on how we have progressed and the opportunity to look to the future. We have shown that the Justice sector is ready to adapt to the changing landscape.

Implementation of A Policing Service for the Future will see An Garda Síochána transform into a world class policing service with human rights at its core.

We have modernised justice sector services to adjust to the digital age, such as up the digital transformation of our immigration service delivery, the modernisation of the courts system and modernised civil and criminal law.

How do you define the Government’s ambition of delivering a justice system that works for everyone?

Delivering for the public is at the very heart of what we do in the Department of Justice and in Government. The 159 actions outlined in the Justice Plan 2022 are all set with the goal of delivering a justice system that works for all. This is something that I believe we have done through the actions and policies we have taken so far this year.

A key example is the continued implementation of Supporting a Victim’s Journey: A plan to help victims and vulnerable witnesses in sexual violence cases. This important document, which I published in late 2020, acknowledges the fear that many victims of sexual violence have of the criminal justice system and aims to remove that fear, support victims every step of the way and create a system centred around them.

I have published two pieces of legislation this year which work towards making the steps set out in the Plan a reality. In July, I published the General Scheme of the Criminal Justice (Sexual Offences and Human Trafficking) Bill 2022. This important piece of legislation will strengthen the law on consent, provide greater protections and supports to victims of sexual crimes and human trafficking (including putting the National Referral Mechanism on a statutory footing) and ensure anonymity for victims in all sexual offence trials.

In August, I published the Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill. This Bill will make it easier for victims to obtain civil restraining orders against stalkers, increase the maximum sentence for assault causing harm from five years to 10 years, make stalking and non-fatal strangulation standalone offences and expand the existing harassment offence.

“It is a huge honour to serve as Minister for Justice at any time, but particularly so in this, the centenary year of An Garda Síochána. I have been so proud throughout this year to hear the stories and mark the courage and service of our Gardaí, our ‘Guardians of the Peace’, as part of the Decade of Centenaries Programme.”

The Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission in transition

and mandate of GSOC, which was sketched out in the general scheme of the Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill in 2021.

The proposed legislation will significantly enhance the institutional independence of GSOC, giving it its own accounting officer and vote. It will see an automatic referral of all complaints to GSOC in the first instance, and provides for the streamlining of the investigative process, allowing disciplinary matters and criminal matters to be examined concurrently.

Preparation for these changes has been a core focus of GSOC’s work since 2021. Planning for organisational reform is a task for all staff and a crossorganisational transition project group is coordinating this work. Working with the Department of Justice, our transition process aims to create an institutional structure that is suitably resourced and staffed to meet GSOC’s new remit once it is in place.

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GSOC was established in 2007 to provide independent oversight of policing in Ireland. We investigate complaints from the public concerning the conduct of members of An Garda Síochána. These complaints can be of criminal or disciplinary nature, or both. Working from our Dublin headquarters, and regional offices in Cork and Longford, we operate in 26 counties, seven days a week, 24 hours a day,

functioning as an important element of Garda Síochána oversight. Our work is challenging, and results depend on the skill and dedication of our busy staff.

The question of reform in policing and in policing oversight in Ireland has been centre stage since the publication of the report of the Commission on the Future of Policing in 2018. The resulting programme of reform proposes sweeping changes to the composition

The changes set out in the draft legislation are a prime opportunity to take steps towards fulfilling GSOC’s vision of a first-rate, human rights based policing oversight organisation that is strategically and logistically fit for purpose, and compliant with internationally-recognised standards of best practice. GSOC is looking forward to working with all stakeholders in this process in the months and years ahead.

The Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC), Ireland’s independent policing oversight body, is looking ahead to the reforms envisaged in the General Scheme of the Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill.

The Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission.

(L-R): Commissioner Hugh Hume, Chairperson Justice Rory MacCabe, Commissioner Emily Logan.

The Future of Justice: Interconnectedness and a ‘Whole-System’ Approach to Justice

The pandemic showed how government can help speed up innovation in every area and underlined the necessity for interconnectedness across government agencies. The question now facing justice leaders is how they can do more than simply improve existing processes to transform outcomes for citizens, Shane Mohan, Partner and Head of Government and Public Services at Deloitte.

The response to the pandemic has given leaders a real sense of what is possible when they work together across government organisations. A whole-system approach to sustained transformation across the justice sector would help to future proof the system against ever-evolving challenges. To reshape the future of justice, it is vital to understand not only the justice context today and in the coming months, but the world it will be operating in five, 10 and even 20 years’ time. Little is known for

certain. As shown by recent geopolitical events, predicting the state of the world is more difficult today than ever before.

Breaking down silos

The importance of shared goals across government is becoming more evident as many justice organisations are progressing their transformational journeys. While many organisations across the sector have commenced their change programmes, their strategic

plans consider change from primarily their perspective, rather than the overall system. Organisations tend to focus on the service they provide rather than taking a cross-agency service design approach. Considering an end-to-end process for the user would generally result in a better overall experience. A whole-system approach to consider the full user experience, rather than its individual components, would allow for greater efficiencies and an enhanced user experience in the long term.

The future of justice: Interconnectedness and a wholesystem approach to justice

Progress requires innovation beyond functional and administrative levels within an organisation. For the justice sector, breaking down silos to develop a shared understanding of the benefits from the exchange of knowledge and perspectives is key to successful largescale transformation for the sector as a whole. Organisations including the Department of Justice, the Courts Service, An Garda Síochána, the Irish Prison Service, and the Probation Service are all working towards common goals such as:

• tackling crime and enhancing national security;

• improving access to justice and modernising our courts service;

• strengthening community safety; and

• promoting justice, equality and safeguarding human rights.

An example of a whole-system approach in Ireland is the Criminal Justice Sectoral Strategy 2022-2024. The key objective of this strategy is to develop a shared vision for a more “joined-up criminal justice system” with increased datasharing between agencies a priority that is being led by the Criminal Justice Operational Hub. Some of the key

projects already underway include the sharing of charge sheet data from An Garda Síochána, court lists and court orders from the Courts Service with other agencies.

This strategy was drafted by the Criminal Justice Strategic Committee in light of consultations that suggested the criminal justice system was “daunting, inaccessible, and often difficult to understand”. This committee is made up of the Department of Justice, An Garda Síochána, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Courts Service, Forensic Science Ireland, the Irish Prison Service, the Legal Aid Board, and the Probation Service, and highlights how internal collaboration can be fostered locally with a coordinated multiagency response.

Adopting a wholesystem approach

Despite the understanding of the need for adopting a whole-system approach to justice, it is intensely challenging.

Adversarial legal traditions, legal separation of powers, distinct professional identities, and specific organisational structures and processes were all developed for good reasons

and these traditional values remain omnipresent in the justice system in Ireland today.

To combat barriers to change and to foster collaboration, our experience suggests that several critical steps are required (Figure 1). This five-ingredient framework outlines how coordinated action across the whole justice system, with engaged leadership at every level, can lead to a more effective justice system.

Life event experiences

An example of a whole-system approach, recognised by Deloitte globally, is how government could offer holistic services by realigning and integrating resources to understand citizens’ needs as they navigate life events. This approach considers the end-to-end process of an individual life event such as childbirth, marriage, unemployment and death and the touchpoints with various government

The Future of Justice: Interconnectedness and a ‘Whole-System’ Approach to Justice

Figure 1: Leading whole-system reform to improve justice outcomes

Figure 2: Basket of services on representative life events

services that are needed to navigate these events. Figure 2 highlights some typical services that are associated with such events.

This transformational potential of life event services in government is particularly relevant across the justice sector due to complex user journeys and the broad number of interactions with different organisations. Leveraging this type of life event approach in the justice sector could significantly improve customer experience by offering the appropriate “basket” of services required by service users.

The areas of crime and family law are good examples of where service users require multiple services from multiple agencies. Domestic violence cases are a classic example, it can trigger the need for Garda intervention, the Courts Service is engaged for a potential emergency hearing and ongoing support services will need to be provided, among

others. These events are not only complex in the fact that they require interaction between several government organisations, but more importantly, they typically require a greater degree of human touch and interpersonal skills on the part of public servants.

By looking at life events and providing an end-to-end service approach to these events, justice organisations will be required to better understand individuals’ experiences and deliver personalised experiences to meet these needs. Highlighting why design philosophies such as human centred design, agile delivery and once-only contact will be essential to underpin any potential whole-system approach to justice.

Considerations for a whole-system approach

There can be many challenges and considerations for government agencies

when adopting this whole-system approach as it disrupts how government agencies have traditionally been organised. Currently in the justice system many related tasks are handled by separate government agencies. With this in mind, there are important considerations (Figure 3) that justice organisations must keep in mind when implementing a central approach e.g., siloed technology and data systems, along with privacy and data security concerns. Overcoming some of these challenges will not be easy and may require new governance mechanisms. Every strategy will require careful attention and constant feedback to ensure that each of these considerations and potential barriers can be mitigated.

It is critical that organisations work together to address cross-cutting policy issues to ensure priorities are aligned and to drive strategic collaboration across the justice sector. Furthermore, an appropriately resourced

Figure 3: Considerations for implementing a central approach

Source: Deloitte analysis

The Future of Justice: Interconnectedness and a ‘Whole-System’ Approach to Justice

The Future of Justice: Interconnectedness and a ‘Whole-System’ Approach to Justice

transformation office with the right capabilities is key to ensuring that progress is continuously monitored, and the right level of focus and commitment is given to support and embed innovation and multi-agency collaboration.

Data at the heart of the system

One of the fundamental functions of any justice system is providing and sharing information across government agencies. Current approaches to data management are creating additional tasks and frustration for professionals across the system. Processes and documents are still often paper-based and outdated systems mean that extracting data can be very difficult.

Let us take the criminal justice system for example, if an accused person or offender has been detained pending a court date, their information will be required by three separate agencies. In this scenario, police, prison, and courts services will all require pertinent information to provide relevant services.

Any absence or inaccuracy of data is very costly and may significantly delay the process.

At Deloitte, we see huge potential for improvement if government organisations take advantage of emerging good practices in data management. Technological advances in cloud computing and robust data governance means that vast volumes of data can be stored securely and centrally on the cloud and data could then be shared and accessed by eligible organisations who rely on good information to deliver services. The aforementioned Criminal Justice Operational Hub is a significant step in the right direction to support the needs of users and justice agencies.

Furthermore, the Courts Service Data Strategy (2021-2024) sets out a clear set of actions that will bring a coherent focus to their efforts to improve the organisation’s capacity to manage and appropriately use the data it processes.

Innovation as a catalyst for change

When integrating services and shifting towards a whole-system approach to justice, innovation can act as the catalyst

for change and serve as an “enabler, funder, convenor or ecosystem integrator”. The pandemic has emphasised the need to embrace innovation as a process highlighting the increased urgent need for collaboration across silos. As many agencies scrambled to respond to the crisis, they found themselves working across portfolio boundaries, formally and informally, and forging partnerships.

Innovative responses during the pandemic have given leaders a glimpse of what is possible when justice agencies work collaboratively with technological enablers at the core. The widespread adoption of courtroom video conferencing by the Courts Service to facilitate remote court hearings is a key example of this as it challenged traditional norms around justice and shifted attitudes towards virtual courts. In other jurisdictions, a review by the Civil Justice Council in England and Wales, they found that 71.5 per cent of lawyers described their experience of remote hearings as positive or very positive.

It is rarely technology alone that determines the success. True transformation comes from changing what is done in more fundamental ways: designing future services around citizens’ needs, empowering people to solve their own problems and using data to identify trends to support the justice system.

As highlighted in the Criminal Justice Sectoral Strategy, there is a need for significant cultural change to embed new ways of working and inter-agency

collaboration. Embedding innovation as a process and supporting staff to innovate and think beyond organisational boundaries is key to developing a more joined up justice system.

Strengthening collaboration and connectedness

Moving towards a more joined-up justice system requires a culture of collaborative working between justice organisations. As outlined in this article some of the key enablers for successful transformation include data sharing, technology, leadership, and cultural change as well as an innovative mind-set. Strong leadership from the highest levels of each justice organisation is required in order to break down organisational barriers, think systemically, and to further embed collaborative ways of working. As service delivery models are transformed it is imperative that a whole-system approach is taken to justice to ensure that the overall user experience is greatly improved, and a more effective system is delivered for all.

T: 01 417 2200

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“It is rarely technology alone that determines the success. True transformation comes from changing what is done in more fundamental ways: designing future services around citizens’ needs, empowering people to solve their own problems and using data to identify trends to support the justice system.”

The Future of Justice: Interconnectedness and a ‘Whole-System’ Approach to Justice

justice report

Creating a ‘joined-up criminal justice system’

In publishing its first ever Criminal Justice Sectoral Strategy in March 2022, the Department of Justice and associated bodies signalled their intent to deliver a “joined-up criminal justice system” that works together to “deliver a safe, fair, and inclusive Ireland”.

The strategy, covering the period 20222024, was delivered by a partnership of the major justice organisations: the Department of Justice; An Garda Síochána; the Courts Service; the Probation Service; the Irish Prison Service; the Legal Aid Board; Forensic Science Ireland; and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The document, its foreword states, “builds upon the strong principles and foundations of collaborative working laid by the Criminal Justice Strategic Committee” since its establishment in 2015. The committee had operated on an ad hoc basis from the time of its foundation until the publication of the strategy, but the relationships of the involved parties have now been formalised with a “particular focus in this first strategy on improving the experience of those who come into contact with the criminal justice system” and how the system communicates the work it has done.

Communication, the strategy notes, is an area in which the criminal justice system discovered through consultation that could stand to improve: “The criminal justice system in Ireland can be seen as daunting, inaccessible, and is often difficult to understand for those using it. The ‘system’ does not communicate with a unified voice to victims, witnesses, suspects/people accused or convicted of a crime and does not always seem to be cohesive or efficient.”

In an effort to address these deficiencies, the strategy pledges to “improve what can be a difficult or confusing experience for people” who deal with the system and to “strengthen strategic and authentic collaboration between agencies”, including the greater use of data as a driver of system change and the improvement of workforce planning and capability.

The strategy is underpinned by five strategic pillars: strengthening strategic

collaboration; improving user experience; data as a driver; building workforce capability; and increasing public understanding.

Strengthening strategic collaboration

The organisations involved pledge to “conduct our business as efficiently and effectively as possible, while minimising delays, reducing duplication of processes where possible, and enhancing public confidence” in the system.

The four principles of implementation outlined in the strategy for this pillar are: working together to address crosscutting policy issues; driving digitisation; developing an understanding of the causes of delays and address those causes; and identifying and implementing new ways of working to increase efficiencies.

Actions included in the strategy’s

implementation plan to address these issues include support for the sectoral commitment to the reduction of energy usage by all involved by 7 per cent per annum, the establishment of a cross-sectoral Information Management and Technology Working Group, the establishment of a central fund for multi-agency collaborative projects, the development of key performance indicators (KPIs) across the system, and the development of an action plan to address delays identified during the mapping process.

Improving the user experience

Under the pillar of improving the user experience, the organisations involved pledge to: deliver a “fair and more effective criminal justice system” for all users by streamlining the journey through the system; embed a victim-centred approach across the system; ensure support for all victims, witnesses, and accused; and strengthen the multi-agency approach to engaging with offenders.

To achieve these goals, the organisations involved, led by the Department, will map the journeys of system users to identify bottlenecks, gaps, and duplications in the process, perform a review of how information is provided on delays, court decisions, and decisions not to prosecute, and the relevant organisations have committed to implementing a “holistic high level implementation plan” that ensures the mental health and dual diagnosis needs of prison are met.

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Data as a driver

The justice sector plans to streamline its approach to data collection and research in order to increase its “capacity to think systemically, and to deliver more effective policy solutions”. It pledges to support a data culture, use research analysis and data to identify new and emerging trends, and ensure better management of said data and research.

Steps to achieve these goals in the implementation plan include the establishment of a Cross Criminal Justice Data Group, the development of a three-year plan for the expansion of the Criminal Justice Operational Hub, and the regular publication of research and data accessible to the wider public in a centralised location.

Building workforce capability

To develop its workforce capability, the sector pledges to support and develop a diverse and trauma-informed workforce and to increase inter-agency understanding and support staff to “think beyond organisational boundaries”.

Actions included in the implementation plan to address these goals include the establishment of a Criminal Justice Learning and Development Working Group to conduct a training needs analysis of the workforce, the development of training programmes to address cross-sectoral issues such as victims’ rights, restorative justice and the role of adverse childhood experiences in the criminal justice system, and the establishment of a Criminal Justice Innovation Network to create a platform for the sharing of best practice.

Increasing public understanding

Under the final pillar of the strategy, the sector aims to increase public awareness and understanding of the system, develop a structured form of engagement with stakeholders, and develop consistency in communications with the public.

Steps towards achieving these goals in the implementation plan include the establishment of a Criminal Justice Communications Working Group and a Criminal Justice Consultation and Participation Network, as well as the conducting of an annual nationally representative survey to understand the public’s needs, perceptions and expectations of the system as well as any gaps that need to be addressed.

“The criminal justice system in Ireland can be seen as daunting, inaccessible, and is often difficult to understand for those using it.”

Criminal Justice Sectoral Strategy 2022-24

The Future of Justice: Interconnectedness and a ‘Whole-System’ Approach to Justice

Creating an innovative, collaborative, and transparent Prison Service

The Irish Prison Service, like many public service bodies, has learned much from its experience over the last three years. Having had our achievements formally recognised at the 2021 Civil Service Excellence and Innovation Awards, in the category of Leading Reform during Covid-19, we have confidence that the lessons we can learn from those experiences are beneficial, writes Donna Creavan.

Throughout the last number of years, in parallel to the organisational response to managing the pandemic, we were hugely successful in continuing to realise our goals, including completion of the new accommodation in Limerick Prison due to open later this year; repurposing a unit in Mountjoy Prison to accommodate older male prisoners who have special requirements as they age; and continued implementation of the Covid-19 vaccination programme for prisoners and staff managed by medical staff, in conjunction with the National Ambulance Service and the HSE.

The Irish Prison Service is facing many challenges with rising numbers in our custody, an aging prisoner population, addressing the mental health needs of people in our custody, maintaining services during times of rising costs, and a tight labour market.

As the Prison Service prepares to go forward on a statutory footing as a Scheduled Officer under a government appointed board, we are strengthening internal controls and governance arrangements to support corporate capacity and maintain and ensure consistency, transparency, and

accountability for the services we provide on behalf of the State.

With that in mind, the next iteration of the Strategic Plan will be informed by those challenges and our experiences in the context of current societal challenges and the evolving expectations of our stakeholders. As we look to the future, we will focus on a number of themes to support our aims to consolidate and increase the service capacity to people in our custody, making them more accessible and continued collaboration with our stakeholders to progress penal and public service reform.

Modernising the Prison Services through digital and innovation

In February 2022, the Irish Government launched a new national digital strategy, Harnessing Digital – The Digital Ireland Framework, to drive and enable economic and societal change. Our work in this area is also aligned to the Criminal Justice Sectoral Strategy 20222024, pillar three: data as a driver.

Digitalisation of our services, from committal procedures to release will enable transparent, tailored services, prioritising both efficiency and effectiveness in a cohesive and holistic manner. Operating in an environment with increased technology will support us in considering how they address stakeholder needs better while capturing value from new services.

Digital is also a must for innovating educational programs, policies, and practices, and increased digital literacy will support prisoner outcomes which leads to reductions in recidivism and improved public safety. Emerging innovative technologies provides the opportunity to shape the narrative for modernisation of the prison estate and its services. There are significant benefits to supporting staff with the introduction of self-service kiosks and incell telephone and devices.

The Prison Service will continue to build on its development of an operational reporting and analysis capability to support being a data-driven service. Improved capability of our data analytics will facilitate improving management information in relation to trend analysis and the identification and management of risks across the service as well as supporting the broader policy objectives of the criminal justice sector through the provision of quality data and metrics that will inform and support policy decision making.

Talent attraction: Succession and retention of people

Attracting and retaining the best people for the organisation forms part of the current strategic plan under the Staff Support pillar and our commitments to recruit and retain staff will continue. We are currently recruiting up to 144 new prison officers this year, and additional staff in 2023.

Recruiting and retaining professionals across operations and healthcare to implement appropriate strategies for a penal setting is a cornerstone for our

service. Successfully providing appropriate services, through our staff, and in-reach service providers, is crucial to ensure that prisons are safe and rehabilitative places, and to support offenders to live crime-free lives and not reoffend upon release, thus creating beneficial outcomes for the individuals and society.

To attract and retain talented motivated staff in today’s labour market including people that reflect the broader profile of people in our population now (e.g., nonIrish and ethnic minorities), the Prison Service aims provide a safe and meaningful work environment; continuously review recruitment strategies and ensure there are learning, development and career progression opportunities for staff.

Organisation culture and change

The culture of an organisation can be the strongest driver for positive change or the strongest inhibitor against it. The Prison Service is facing a significant change agenda through its endeavours to modernise the estate and services and as it prepares to be constituted and operate on a statutory basis. Our greatest asset in achieving under this change programme, is our staff.

Prisons are a unique environment and embedding a strong positive

organisational culture will positively reinforce our efforts to renew the organisation at this pivotal time. Initiatives such as the Code of Ethics for the Prison Service, published in 2021, codifies the values that support the organisation, to work through complex, challenging situations and will assist to implement change.

Careful strategic planning, aligned with the overarching Criminal Justice Sectoral Strategy 2022-2024, will develop a person centred innovative, collaborative, and transparent culture, which will benefit all stakeholders, prisoners, their families, and staff.

By recognising and respecting the individuality of each person, we can connect with everyone. By recognising and reinforcing positive outcomes for people in our custody, we will foster commitment from our staff and support individuals and teams to deliver good practice consistently in person-centred planning.

As part of the national critical infrastructure with a sensitive brief, the Prison Service is continuously improving the quality of service provided, its staff and public confidence.

W: www.irishprisons.ie

The Future of Justice: Interconnectedness and a ‘Whole-System’ Approach to Justice

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Department of Justice to establish new agency to tackle domestic and sexual violence

The Department of Justice has released its National Strategy on Domestic Violence, Sexual and Gender-based Violence 2022-2026 with the aim of reducing assaults which overwhelmingly affect women throughout the State.

The strategy, the third of its kind, will take the additional step of establishing a new state agency, the sole purpose of which will be to oversee and monitor the implementation of the strategy over the next four years. It is based on the four Istanbul pillars of prevention, protection, prosecution, and policy connection.

“The strategy recognises that while both men and women can be victims/survivors, women and girls can be affected disproportionately as a manifestation of historically unequal power relations between men and women,” the paper states.

The new strategy has been announced amid provisional statistics released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) which indicate that there has been a 12.5 per cent increase in sexual offences, as of the first quarter of 2022, whilst the most recent Crime and Statistics Survey, released in 2019, indicates that more than one third (36 per cent) of women in the State do not feel safe walking around their local area at night.

The Future of Justice: Interconnectedness and a ‘Whole-System’ Approach to Justice

Aims and objectives

The strategy aims to ensure that the Government is strengthened to combat the increasing sexual assaults which are taking place, it has established a set of actions to be undertaken by the Department of Justice to this affect. These actions are:

• the establishment of a new statutory domestic, sexual, and gender-based violence (DSGBV) agency;

• doubling the number of refuge spaces available in Ireland;

• national sexual violence and national domestic violence prevalence studies to be conducted alternately at one-year intervals;

• new legislation to provide for the introduction of a specific offence of nonfatal strangulation, and a specific offence of stalking;

• public awareness campaigns which will seek to raise awareness of DSGBV as well as challenging existing myths, misconceptions, and established beliefs;

• overhaul of the relationships and sexuality education curriculum;

• reforming criminal law, including increasing the maximum sentence for assault causing harm from five years to 10 years;

• training frontline workers to identify domestic violence and refer victims and survivors to appropriate services;

• removing the legal barriers that can prevent people experiencing domestic violence from remaining at home (where it is safe to do so);

• progressing and implementing the new Family Court Bill; and

• improving prosecutions of breaches of any and all DSGBV civil orders provided for in domestic violence and family law legislation.

Emphasising the importance of interdepartmental cooperation, the paper states that the strategy will deliver an “enhanced understanding of the root causes and impacts of DSGBV across society, ensure significant and ongoing reduction in incidence of DSGBV, and support operational and behavioural changes” with the aim of ensuring that Ireland becomes a society where survivors are receiving quality support

services, with an ultimate goal of zero tolerance which will be at the forefront of citizens’ mindsets.

Monitoring progress

A key element to the strategy is the establishment of a new government agency which will be responsible for the implementation and monitoring of the strategy under the aegis of the Department of Justice. This agency, which is still to be formally created and has not as of yet been named, will require staffing and funding to succeed and will be tasked with:

• Coordinating all government actions set out within this third national Strategy, and reporting on their delivery to the Minister of Justice, political oversight will be provided by the cabinet committee on social affairs and equality;

• delivering excellent services to victims of DSGBV, including delivering on the number of safe and accessible accommodation spaces needed, as well as ensuring that helpline and other supports are available to everyone who requires them;

• ensuring a robust set of national service standards and governance arrangements are in place to ensure adherence to the appropriate standards or such supports;

• leading on awareness-raising campaigns designed to reduce the incidence of DSGBV in Irish society as well as ensuring that all victims know the full range of supports available and how to access them;

• working with the Minister of Justice to ensure alignment in its work with overall government DSGBV policy; and

• leading on consistent and ongoing research to inform DSGBV policy development, working with others, such as the CSO, who have research and data projects underway.

Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee TD, said:

“The goal and guiding mission of this strategy is clear: zero tolerance of domestic, sexual, and gender-based violence.

“Zero tolerance means realising that we have allowed gender-based violence and abuse, and the attitudes and assumptions which underpin it, inflict misery on too many for too long, but know now that radical change is required.”

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An Garda Síochána Ireland’s Na onal Police and Security Service

An Garda Síochána: Policing by consent for 100 years

policing which are at the core of the transformation agenda within An Garda Síochána, including that human rights are the foundation and purpose of policing, that An Garda Síochána should be structured and managed to support frontline policing, and that policing must be information-led, adaptive, innovative and cost effective.

With these principles in mind, a Human Rights Unit was established and over 2,000 Garda personnel have undertaken a level eight certificate on policing and human rights from the University of Limerick, which was designed in collaboration with An Garda Síochána, with further opportunities for participation.

This year marks the centenary of the establishment of Ireland’s police and national security service. In the 100 years since then, An Garda Síochána has built and maintained a strong relationship with communities by adhering to the ethos of the first Commissioner Michael Staines – policing not by force of arms or numbers, but on our moral authority as servants of the people.

The preservation of this unique and special bond, which is built on a strong tradition of policing by consent, would not have been possible without continuing to change and evolve with those we serve.

Currently, An Garda Síochána is undergoing some of the biggest changes in its history with a new organisational structure, the introduction of cutting-edge technologies, an enhanced emphasis on human rights, and even a new uniform

The Report of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland (CoFPI), and the related strategic plan, A Policing

Service for our Future (APSFF), published in September 2018, outlined a clear vision to ensure that An Garda Síochána stands ready to take on the future challenges and complexities presented by modern policing.

Since commencing implementation, An Garda Síochána has worked in partnership with other key stakeholders, including the Department of An Taoiseach and the Department of Justice, to undertake the most ambitious reform of policing in the organisation’s 100-year history.

The APSFF programme has embraced the 10 principles for the future of

To structure the organisation to support frontline policing, a significant new operating model is being introduced. This will increase the number of frontline Gardaí, provide a more localised service to communities based on their specific needs, and see more specialised police services delivered at local level in areas such as fraud, cybercrime, and domestic abuse.

Already, over 300 Gardaí have moved from administrative roles to frontline policing duties focused on keeping people and communities safe from crime or harm. The number of Garda staff (civil servants) is being increased to support our emphasis on community-based policing, many in highly specialised roles.

Other supports for Gardaí to deliver best-in-class frontline policing include a significant increase in front-line supervisors at sergeant and inspector rank, greater transparency in promotions processes, and enhanced trauma and mental health supports for Garda personnel.

There has been momentum to digitise policing in Ireland. A range of critical digital infrastructure is being rolled out nationally.

Close to 10,000 mobility devices, which are mobile workstations and phones, have been provided to Gardaí enabling fixed charge penalty notices to be issued at roadside and reducing time spent by Gardaí on paperwork.

This innovation has saved thousands of people hours, enhanced road safety, and is regarded as one of the most cutting-edge policing systems in the world. Already, hundreds of thousands of fixed charge notices have been issued using these devices.

Systems to manage the operational work of An Garda Síochána are being extensively implemented. Ireland connected with the Schengen Information System (SIS) in early 2021, the most widely used and largest information sharing system for security and border management in Europe. Joining this system has already resulted in considerable successes. Since its implementation, Gardaí have arrested more than 160 people who had been engaged in crimes such as drug trafficking, robbery, sexual assault, and fraud.

In further technology developments, a new incident management system to support serious crime investigation has been launched, and a deployment management system is in operation in 10 divisions to date.

Centering ourselves as an informationinformed police service in the spirit of the APSFF strategy has made great strides. Updates to the PULSE system to inform the nuance of crime types and motivations have greatly enhanced An Garda Síochána’s analysis fields to inform both operational prevention and response methods.

A prime example of this is the organisation’s proactive analysis and release of a review by the Garda Analytics Service of data relating to domestic, sexual, and gender-based violence, providing insight to the motives behind very serious incidents, to inform the approach to preventing and reacting to such incidents not only by the Gardaí, but also on a whole-of-society level.

To keep people safe, increased specialised bureaux have been established, such as highly professional trained officers preventing and investigating areas such as cybercrime, sexual and domestic abuse, and an internal Anti-Corruption Unit.

The flow of information and communications, one of the core tenets of APSFF, internally and externally have been augmented. Award-winning internal communications initiatives are in

“Ireland connected with the Schengen Information System (SIS) in early 2021, the most widely used and largest information sharing system for security and border management in Europe... Since its implementation, Gardaí have arrested more than 160 people who had been engaged in crimes such as drug trafficking, robbery, sexual assault, and fraud.”

place, and the public has new ways of engaging with An Garda Síochána such as online hate crime reporting, online reporting of theft, and a new property app.

One of the most visible reforms of An Garda Síochána has been the introduction of a new operational uniform, launched in 2022. Requests from members of An Garda Síochána for a new uniform came via the first Garda Culture Audit in early 2018, and were echoed in the consultation submissions

to the Commission of the Future of Policing in Ireland.

Further developments to enhance our ability to keep people safe to be introduced under APSFF include a new computer-aided dispatch system in early 2023, the introduction of body-worn cameras, and further enhancements to information-informed and evidencebased policing and security services.

W: www.garda.ie

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Courts Service modernisation: Working with our partners to improve services for all

system which requires interacting with various organisations to ensure that cases come to court, are heard and the relevant actions are taken. This requires the processing of volumes of data daily, the majority of which is done manually. One of the reasons the Criminal Justice Operational Hub was developed was to support efficient processing and transacting of data between the different organisations involved in the criminal justice system.

Working with An Garda Síochána, the Courts Service identified our process of manually creating charge sheets on our system as a duplication of the sheets on An Garda Síochána’s system. Typically, the Courts Service process approximately 109,241 charge sheets annually (2021). Through the Criminal Justice Operational Hub an automated process was developed to pull charge sheet and station bail data from An Garda Síochána’s system for electronic importation into the Courts Service system. The new electronic process was piloted in three offices at the end of 2021 and the beginning of 2022 and then rolled out between March and midJune 2022 across all areas.

Currently, the new system is being used to process 95 per cent of all charge sheets and has resulted in 77 per cent reduction in the time to process a charge sheet from an average of 207 seconds per sheet to 49 seconds.

The Courts Service’s modernisation programme is about re-designing our services to meet user needs, leading with a digital first approach. The first two years of the programme have been characterised by ongoing engagement with service users, representative groups, practitioners, our partners across the justice sector and the judiciary to co-design our new services. At the same time, we have been

prototyping and developing proof-ofconcepts based on the user and partner feedback. We are now beginning to see results from some of the initial modernisation programme projects.

Criminal Justice Operational Hub –eCharge sheets project

The Courts Service is part of the justice

Based on an annual average of 109,241 charge sheets, we are looking at a saving of 733 days of manual entry which is the equivalent of 3.2 FTE capacity released. This allows our people to deliver a better quality of service to our users in very busy offices. This project is realising a number of our modernisation programme key benefits including:

• reducing complexity in the system;

improved process efficiencies;

releasing our people from data entry work to concentrate on user needs;

improved turnaround times; and

accuracy and quality of our data.

The initial years of the Court Service modernisation programme are garnering benefits but the reform envisaged is just beginning.

John Whelan, Courts Service, with Garda Commissioner Drew Harris at the Ploughing Championships.

Video technology enabled court rooms

In this report last year, we mentioned the benefits of remote courts and videolink options for victims, witnesses, subject matter experts, practitioners, as well as our partners across the justice system and the judiciary. Video-links have enabled cases to be heard quicker than if everyone involved had to be physically in the court. Our aim is to ensure 158 court rooms nationwide are video technology enabled by 2024. 117 courtrooms have been enabled to date with a further four expected by the end of the year, another 18 in 2023 and 19 in 2024. This initiative is about giving the judiciary and parties options to have cases heard in a timely more efficient manner, to make the most of costly and valuable court time. It is also about improving customer satisfaction by reducing anxiety for users.

Replying online to jury summons

The genesis of the modernisation programme was an organisation capability review in 2018. One of the main recommendations in that review was to centralise a number of services. In December 2019, the CEO of the Courts Service, Angela Denning, officially opened the centralised office in Castlebar. One of the services to be centralised was the issuing of jury summonses. Pat Conlan, the local manager in Castlebar, explains the work of the Jury Summons Office reports: “We are now administering jury summonses for the majority of offices around the country in support of County Registrars. The Jury Summons Office has issued over 420,000 summonses since opening in 2019. Centralising these processes has benefitted the Courts Service internally and thanks to the hard work and dedication of the staff in Castlebar, issuing of summonses continued throughout the pandemic to ensure continued access to justice.”

The next step for the Jury Summons Office is to provide an online solution for those who receive a jury summons through the post. Working to modernisation programme goals, the Jury Summons Office, working with ICT, is developing an easy-to-use online system based on user feedback. Currently at pilot stage, the new online platform is being developed to allow those who have received a summons to

So far in 2022, we have welcomed over 900 members of the public to learn more about how the Courts work and their rich history through our Four Court 100 tours. The tours ran in June – July 2022 to mark the Battle of the Four Courts centenary and for Culture Night on 23 September 2022. Hundreds more are downloading our Four Courts 100 app to experience the tour from their phones. The Courts Service also attended the National Ploughing Championships in September 2022 participating in the Department of Justice tent ‘Supporting Victims of Crime’. Providing information about the Courts through outreach initiatives can help make the justice system more accessible to members of the public.

reply, check the status of their reply, and access helpful information about jury summons and duty online whenever they like 24/7.

The project is currently being piloted in four counties: Kilkenny, Mayo, Tipperary, and Waterford. Across the four pilot counties, approximately 30 per cent of people who have responded to their jury summons have done so using the new online platform. Encouragingly, feedback received from those who used the new platform has been very positive.

Following a review of the pilot project, it is planned that a nationwide roll-out will happen over the next few months. This project is aimed at providing users with options to choose how they want to respond. Not everyone will choose the

digital option but it is important in a modern digital Ireland that people have the option.

For more information on the Courts Service visit www.courts.ie

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Policing Authority spending less than half of northern counterpart

Among the more notable figures in the Policing Authority’s annual report is that it estimates itself to have spent €3.3 million in 2021, a figure less than half of that of its northern counterpart, the Policing Board, which spent £6.6 million (€7.6 million) in 2021 according to its own annual report.

The Policing Authority is an independent statutory body with key roles of scrutinising and overseeing the performance of the Garda Síochána in the provision of policing services in Ireland. It was established on 1 January 2016 by the enactment of the Garda Síochána (Policing Authority and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2015 which amends the Garda Síochána Act 2005.

Scrutinising the Gardaí

The Policing Authority set itself a task of implementing 12 strategic objectives, set out in the strategy statement for implementation between the years 2019 and 2021.

On the establishment of an effective framework for An Garda Síochána, the report states that this has been achieved through the publication of the Policing Authority’s strategy, Policing Priorities 2022-2024, the process of which involved a

month-long public consultation process and the undertaking of research on matters relating to policing nationally and internationally.

It further states that it has “further developed and extended stakeholder engagement approach to inform oversight work, human rights and equality and assessment of Garda performance”.

The Police Authority additionally focused oversight on key areas including: drug related policing; the inappropriate cancellation of CAD/999 calls; the response to sexual offences and domestic abuse; human rights; and Garda integrity.

Modernisation of the Gardaí

Modernisation is something which the report states was progressed by the onset of the Covid19 pandemic, as more remote working with subsequent new technologies was required.

The Policing Authority states that: “The Authority’s Garda Síochána Organisation Development Committee addressed progress made by the Garda Síochána in relation to key themes of Garda integrity, human resources, governance and infrastructure.”

The Policing Authority released its annual report for 2021, its fifth year in operation after it was founded in 2016.

The Future of Justice: Interconnectedness and a ‘Whole-System’ Approach to Justice

Credit: Policing Authority

It further evaluates that it “considered progress by the Garda Síochána in the implementation of a range of strategies including the information and technology vision, the diversity and integration strategy and the equality, diversity, and integration strategy”, as well as engaging with the Garda Síochána in the area of anticorruption and the progression of its second cultural audit.

The report further outlines that the authority “continued to oversee the implementation of the operating model, engaged on a quarterly basis with the Central Implementation Team and held five meetings with divisional operating model teams”.

Public engagement on policing

Looking at the Policing Authority’s Communications Work Plan 2021, the main achievement pointed to in the report is the engagement with key stakeholders to inform the Authority’s oversight work.

The report states that this involved an expanded programme of engagement with 46 stakeholder groups and organisations on their experience of policing to inform the Authority’s assessment of police performance during the pandemic, as well as policing in general. The report further states that it “reached out in particular to groups representing the vulnerable members of our community and those whose voices and views are seldom heard”.

Further actions included an outreach campaign on the media which, although

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achieved, had no metric outlined in the report as to what defines success or what the levels of public awareness and engagement were.

The report further details the role played by joint policing committees with An Garda Síochána “in a way that facilitates crime prevention and improved safety and quality of life for citizens”.

The future of the Policing Authority

The Policing Authority’s role is likely to change in the coming years, as the Department of Justice is currently drafting legislation to implement the recommendations of the report of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland.

There are currently plans for a new Policing and Community Safety Authority (PCSA) will be established by a merger of the Policing Authority and the Garda Inspectorate.

Until such time as the PCSA is established, the Policing Authority’s existing statutory functions and oversight role will continue.

The report has measured the access of the Police Authority against its strategic objectives and its four desired outcomes.

Helen Hall, Chief Executive of the Police Authority, said in the report: “Work began in 2021 to determine, in consultation with staff, the future workplace model and significant progress was made to deliver the IT, cultural, HR and structural changes that would be needed for this change to be successful.”

“The Authority’s Garda Síochána Organisation Development Committee addressed progress made by the Garda Síochána in relation to key themes of Garda integrity, human resources, governance and infrastructure.”

The Future of Justice: Interconnectedness and a ‘Whole-System’ Approach to Justice

Justice in the community

Having worked in the criminal justice system for almost 30 years, Wilson is keenly aware that the role of the Probation Service, first and foremost, is to implement the orders of the courts and to hold people accountable for the offences they have committed: “We do return people to court for noncompliance with their orders and that is really important. But we all know that if we do not want people to continue offending then we need to do more than just punish. We can guide them towards rehabilitation when they come out of prison, or before they go in. That is the best way to keep our communities safe.”

Probation Service Director Mark Wilson outlines ambitious plans to expand non-custodial sentences.

The recent publication of the Review of Policy Options for Prison and Penal Reform 2022 – 2024 by the Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee TD, highlighted the critical role of the Probation Service in the Criminal Justice System. The review’s central narrative, that adequate, appropriate and proportional punishment is necessary for those who commit crimes, alongside the rehabilitation of offenders and their reintegration back into society, places the Probation Service at the heart of the priorities outlined in this important review.

Director of the Probation Service, Mark Wilson believes that the Probation Service is central to ensuring that non-custodial sentences can make communities safer, can reduce re-offending and can help to re-integrate those who have offended back into society.

Wilson’s office on the fifth floor of the Haymarket building in Smithfield offers a panoramic view across the roof tops of Dublin’s north inner city, stretching all the way to the Dublin mountains in the distance. At ground level is the vibrant Smithfield square and the long established community of Dublin 7; a little further west along the quays is the Criminal Court of Justice. The Probation Service headquarters are positioned, appropriately, at the centre of the community but just a stone’s throw from the heart of the State’s criminal courts system.

That link between the community and the justice system is central to the work of the Probation Service, with 35 offices nationwide and probation officers based in each one of the country’s 12 prisons.

That rehabilitation and reintegration takes place, for the most part, in the community. The Probation Service worked with more than 15,000 offenders in the community in 2021. Under Wilson’s direction, the Probation Service has set out clear ambitions to strengthen and expand community sanctions in order to support the policy options outlined in the recently published Review of Policy Options for Prison and Penal Reform, which acknowledged the efficacy and cost saving benefits of sanctions managed in the community. The review recommends developing and expanding the range of sanctions for medium to high-risk offenders. It also explores reducing the use of short sentences (especially less than three months) and looks at how the judiciary can be provided with a greater range of non-custodial sanctions.

The work to strengthen and enhance sanctions in the community is already well under-way at the Probation Service, with an operational review of community service due to be completed by the end of this year.

“We know community service is an effective alternative to short-prison sentences, placing the values of restitution, social integration and rehabilitation at its core. There are untapped opportunities to expand and we have committed to a root and branch review of community service to

maximise its potential,” explains Wilson.

To strengthen the work it does with people who have offended, and with victims, the Probation Service funds and works closely with a network of 60 community-based organisations nationwide. The organisation’s work with people who have offended, offering them various services including training, education and addiction courses, counselling services, specialists services for women and young people and targeted supports providing pathways back into employment. The projects are often managed by people from the same communities as the individual who is subject to a probation order.

Wilson firmly believes in the importance of maintaining and building strong links with communities. From his days as a youth and community worker, at the start of his career, he understands that communities are central to rehabilitating and reintegrating those who have offended.

He adds: “Public safety is not just a matter for the Gardai alone and interagency partnership is key to providing effective responses to crime.”

The Probation Service is part of a new government pilot initiative, the Local Community Safety Partnership launched in 2020, which brings together statutory services, the voluntary and community sector, local councillors and community members to work together to tackle community safety issues locally. It is currently being piloted in Longford, Waterford and Dublin’s north inner city with a view to expanding to other local authority areas across the country following a successful evaluation period.

The Probation Service supervises those who have come before the courts for minor offences, but also those who have served sentences for much more serious crimes. And this, Wilson says, underlines the need for a response from the service that is tailored to the individual: “We supervise people who are with us because of public order offences and we have people who have done serious harm, who have served life sentences; we work with women and young people, members of the Traveller community and those with addiction and with mental health issues. So we have the entire spread of the population and with each one it comes down to individual assessment of risk and need.”

On Wilson’s desk in Haymarket is a copy of Judge Gillian Hussey’s newly published memoir Lessons from the Bench. Judge Hussey, now retired, always had, he believes, a keen understanding of the important role the Probation Service plays in the justice system: “She appreciated that what the Probation Service offered, through our reports, helped her to build a broad picture of the person who had offended. As she described it herself in her book, she had the bones of the case, the evidence and the plea, but with Probation Service reports, which offered much more detail about that person’s life and background, she could suddenly see so much more.”

That is the added value that the Probation Service brings to the table, Wilson concludes, adding: “I see it as my job to ensure we are visible as a Probation Service and that we have the confidence of the public, the judiciary and the lawmakers to feel that investing in us to do our work is purposeful and worthwhile.”

+353 (0)1 817 3600

Garda job satisfaction high but work pressures still abound

A culture audit of An Garda Síochána has found that job satisfaction is high among Gardaí, but “emotional energy” is low, work demands “constrain performance” at Garda and sergeant ranks, and that there is a perceived lack of organisational fairness and justice.

The culture audit was performed by Durham University in England under commission from An Garda Síochána, and was responded to by 6,400 Garda personnel. It is the second of its kind, following on from the 2017/18 audit that was carried out by PricewaterhouseCooper and responded to by 6,500 personnel.

Entitled Your Voice, Our Future, the findings of the survey show a police force that is largely satisfied with its work, believes in the competence of the force, and is motivated to “serve communities and protect people from harm”, but also found a force struggling with fatigue, low emotional energy, and a perceived lack of organisational fairness and justice.

Emotional energy of Gardaí was found by the survey to be at a “moderately low average level”, but a “moderate average level” for Garda staff. Emotional energy is found to be influenced by feelings of competence, autonomy, and relatedness at work, and while both

Gardaí and Garda staff reported competence, autonomy, and relatedness at moderately high levels with small-to-medium differences in the two strands, emotional energy in total was reported to be, on average, lower than all three constituent aspects, with a medium size difference caused by Garda staff reporting higher emotional energy on average than Gardaí. 51.2 per cent of Garda respondents indicated high levels of fatigue, compared to 43.6 per cent of Garda staff; 16.5 per cent and 13.3 per cent respectively reported very high levels.

Despite these fatigue levels, job satisfaction was reported at moderately high average levels among Gardaí and high average levels among Garda staff, with prosocial motivation and high performance expectations from supervisors reported at high levels by both strands. A large gap was found in the ability of the two strands to psychologically detach from their work when not working, with Gardaí reporting

moderately low average levels of detachment and staff reporting moderately high levels.

In terms of values and ethics, the report found that on average, individuals in An Garda Síochána believe that their own personal values align with the Garda Code of Ethics. Positively, low levels of moral disengagement – the suspension of morals – were reported. However, Garda staff reported higher levels of perceived organisational fairness than Gardaí themselves, with Gardaí reporting a low average perception of fairness within the organisation.

In response to the findings, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris stated: “We will now analyse these findings in-depth and conduct focus groups to gain further insights on particular areas. Based on this, we will introduce measures to address the issues raised by Garda personnel in the 2022 Garda Culture Audit.”

The Future of Justice: Interconnectedness and a ‘Whole-System’ Approach to Justice

“No intention” of establishing transport police

Ireland is one of the few western nations without a dedicated transport policing service, and An Garda Síochána have stated that they have no intention to establish a separate transport unit.

In August 2022, amid calls from the National Bus and Rail Union for the establishment of a dedicated transport policing service, An Garda Síochána released a statement which said that An Garda Síochána “proactively engages with transport operators, including the National Transport Authority, Irish Rail (DART and InterCity rail) and Transdev Ireland (Luas) to provide a coordinated Garda presence on public transport, to prevent and tackle anti-social behaviour”.

The statement continued: “All incidents reported to An Garda Síochána are fully investigated, with a proactive arrest policy and prosecuted where possible. An Garda Síochána is not considering the establishment of a transport police unit at the moment.”

Figures released by the CSO revealed that 763 incidents involving anti-social behaviour took place in the State’s

railway stations and on trains in the first six months of 2022, nearly half of which took place in Dublin.

As a result of increasing crime on the State’s trains and railway stations, Irish Rail have increased security spending from €3.7 million in 2016 to €5.7 million in 2021.

Fianna Fáil justice spokesperson Jim O’Callaghan TD stated in August on Newstalk that it was time to establish a dedicated transport policing unit: “It is a big issue and I suppose it is something that we were aware of before the last election.”

Fianna Fáil’s 2020 election manifesto states that the party “will introduce a specific public transport police within An Garda Síochána to protect public transport users. This new section would be tasked with a mandate to ensure a

comfortable, safe, and punctual experience for all public transport users.”

The party opened a public consultation to establish a party policy on the issue, which closed for submissions on 30 September.

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar TD stated in August that the establishment of a transport policing unit was not a matter for the Government and should be decided by the Garda Commissioner, instead outlining that there should be an increased number of Gardaí at railway stations and bus stations.

Pat Leahy, former Assistant Garda Commissioner, stated on RTÉ in August that the establishment of a transport Police was not currently possible due to a lack of resources, but that it was something that the Government needs to consider.

justice report

The Future of Justice: Interconnectedness and a ‘Whole-System’ Approach to Justice

conference report

Energy Markets and Security Conference 2022

The Energy Markets and Security Conference took place in The Marker Hotel, Dublin in September. Organised by Energy Ireland and sponsored by KPMG, the conference looked at the drivers behind the rise in gas and electricity prices and examined the security of energy supply to the island and security of the electricity grid. Delegates heard from a number of local and visiting expert speakers from organisations including the Commission for Regulation of Utilities; ESB; Gas Networks Ireland; the International Energy Agency; SSE; Bord Gáis Energy; and the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland.

Tara Reale, Lightsource bp; Minister of State Ossian Smyth TD; Colm O’Neill, KPMG; Muireann Lynch, Economic and Social Research Institute and David Kelly, Gas Networks Ireland.

Minister of State Ossian Smyth TD opening the conference.

Jean-Baptiste Dubreuil from the International Energy Agency talking about the outlook for the European gas market.

Franz Delpont, Frontier Economics with Una O’Grady, Arup.

Keith Flanagan, Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications and Tom O’Brien, Nephin Energy.

Stephen Robb, Irish Farmers’ Journal and Róisín McLaughlin, Utility Regulator, Northern Ireland.

Mark Alexander, Mutual Energy and Derek Russell, Energia.

Connectivity and the future of work

ComReg’s Robert Mourik: Prepared to regulate the evolving electronic communications sector Investment

Amid significant national investment in the telecoms sector, including the ongoing rollout of the National Broadband Plan, Ireland is pivoting away from Eir’s copper network towards a new fibre network. “Given the levels of investment,” the ComReg chairperson projects, “In five or six years’ time, Ireland will be one of the first countries to achieve full fibre coverage.”

While he acknowledges that capital markets are in relatively good shape and seeking investment vehicles, he indicates that it is not always easy for market actors to invest significant amounts of money.

“Within the ecosystem, we are observing that some telecoms companies are being squeezed in the middle. Profits are now being made by Apple and Samsung in the manufacture and sale of handsets or by Google and Meta in providing services.

“During the Covid crisis, we have observed how crucial these networks are in supporting both our society and economy. In general, the Irish operators have performed well in maintaining their networks and providing sufficient headroom that allows for the absorption of extra traffic. Without them, we would not have been able to operate during the pandemic to the extent that we have,” Mourik reflects.

Covid has simultaneously catalysed digitalisation and redefined the concept of connectivity. “The transition from a ‘nice to have’ to an indispensable utility has been rapid,” Mourik observes, adding: “We always knew that we were moving towards a world in which people are increasingly connected and that this connectivity could be increasingly leveraged. That trend preceded the onset of the pandemic, but the Covid crisis has accelerated it.

“It is now very common to attend a remote meeting and it is normal to transcend geographic boundaries to

meet virtually with colleagues in realtime. It is a cultural shift as much as a technological shift and while we are seeking to establish an optimal balance, people have realised the significant role that electronic communications play in their lives. Simultaneously, Ireland has experienced significant improvement in relation to the European Commission’s Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) which tracks EU member states’ digital progress. Ranking fifth in the Commission’s assessment of all 27 EU member states in 2022, Ireland is now among the top countries in Europe.

“ComReg itself played a significant role here by providing a series of temporary licences during the Covid pandemic. We gave each of the three mobile network operators access to valuable 700 MHz spectrum for the last two-and-a-half years to ensure that networks had sufficient capacity to meet demand during Covid.”

Consumer perspective

In September 2022, ComReg facilitated a stakeholder engagement forum with the telecoms operators which explored the poor consumer perception of the

Ahead of the 25th anniversary of the liberalisation of the telecoms sector, Robert Mourik, Commissioner and Chairperson of the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) discusses connectivity, effective competition, consumer protection, and the legislative landscape, as well as his organisation’s trajectory.

telecoms sector. “One conclusion that we drew is that people regard the services that are provided via the internet as critically important. Indeed, connectivity has become a basic service. It is not a ‘nice to have’, rather it is an essential service to support all our work, family, and social lives.

“As such, consumers have certain expectations of the services provided. The bar that companies must meet in the eyes of the consumer is relatively high. Therefore, while significant investment is being undertaken, the telecoms companies should not lose sight of the fact that customer services must be easy to contact and of high quality. This is very important,” Mourik emphasises.

Mourik cites the example of the installation of a new broadband line at a domestic or commercial location. “Telecommunications is a technically complex sector and such an installation requires coordination across several layers of engineering. From a customer perspective, the expectation is for this process to be seamless. However, with several moving parts, the difficulty of achieving this should not be underestimated. While very difficult to achieve, the closer that operators can get to this objective, the better their reputation,” he says.

Effective competition

Successive governments – in conjunction with the EU – have created the legislative landscape within which ComReg operates and competition is the tool utilised to improve quality and choice in the sector. The regulator is responsible for assessing the effective competitiveness of certain electronic communications markets. When established in 2002, ComReg was tasked with regulating 18 recommended core electronic communications markets as defined by Europe. Today, however, that original number of 18 has been reduced substantially.

“It feels like we have come full circle and we have a lot to acknowledge in a sense,” Mourik begins, continuing: “ComReg has overseen that migration away from a monopoly sector where Telecom Éireann was the only provider to a sector which has a healthy degree of competition. I am very encouraged by that journey and where we are now.”

ComReg plays an important role in regulating particular wholesale prices in the market. “This is very much informed by a kind of ‘Goldilocks Principle’ – of getting it just right – whereby we want to drive down prices to a level that is

conducive to competition, without driving them so far down that organisations no longer have money to invest, or that customer service and quality suffer,” Mourik explains.

In doing so, ComReg often attracts criticism from two angles, with one party suggesting that prices are too low and the other asserting that prices are too high.

Legislative landscape

Currently, the legislative landscape for communications is evolving. Across the EU, the European Electronic Communications Code (EECC) is updating and consolidating the legislative framework which informs the regulatory regime for electronic communications. The EECC will be transposed in Ireland via the Communications Regulation Bill 2022 and the European Communities (Electronic Communications) Regulations 2022.

Introduced to Dáil Éireann in September 2022, the Communications Regulation Bill 2022 was debated at second stage in the Dáil in early October. Aligning with the June 2020 Programme for Government commitment to “give the Commission for Communications Regulation greater powers of enforcement, with a particular focus on improving competition, innovation and customer service within the communications sector”, when enacted, the Bill is intended to provide ComReg with additional legal powers to further regulate the telecommunications industry.

“In some ways, it will maintain our current trajectory, but in our role consumer protection role, we will receive support tools which will be used to ensure that consumers are treated fairly,” Mourik comments.

Digital

Unlike telecommunications, digital is not

a defined sector. In his role as Chair of the Economic Regulators’ Network – an association of Irish regulators – which includes the Central Bank, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, and the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, Mourik is cognisant of the need to collaborate on digital.

“The world is changing and there are many more digital services which have reached sufficient maturity for the Government and the EU to consider regulating and, in some scenarios, ComReg will be expected to undertake that regulation. Very often, a problem cannot be resolved by a single entity and while one must take the lead, intense cooperation is required.

“Several regulators who are particularly impacted are beginning to coalesce and examine international best practice to advise the Government. I hope that we will achieve a better understanding of how to mitigate some of the emerging challenges that we are observing in digital services,” he says.

In this context, ComReg faces a talent management challenge. With many specialists in its ranks, including economists, lawyers, and accountancy experts, it must now consider hiring a new skillset that can respond to digital services challenges in the future.

“ComReg is prepared for the challenges ahead in the constantly evolving electronic communications sector. This new legislation transposing the European Electronic Communications Code will ensure that the telecoms regulatory framework in Ireland is fit for purpose as we move forward. The new powers under this legislation will bring benefits for consumers, businesses and ultimately for the economy and society, as a whole.”

W: www.comreg.ie

“ComReg is prepared for the challenges ahead in the constantly evolving electronic communications sector.”

Robert Mourik, Commissioner and Chairperson, ComReg

connectivity

connectivity and the future of work report

Leo Varadkar TD: The changing world of work

The pandemic changed the world of work forever. Millions of people and businesses around the world moved overnight from the office to home working. This shift might have taken decades if it had been planned. Instead, it took days, Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Leo Varadkar TD writes.

On balance, these are changes for the better. Less commuting, more time for family and leisure, and potentially fewer transport greenhouse gas emissions. New job opportunities are being created for people who want to live in rural Ireland, people with disabilities, and people with caring responsibilities. Small towns and villages have seen new investment, along with greater footfall and spend.

But there are risks as well. We do not want to turn our homes into workplaces where we are always on. We want to spread jobs more evenly across the country, but we do not want to lose them to other countries. We want to retain the creativity and innovation that flourishes from people meeting each other and do not want people to become isolated. We want our city centres to remain vibrant places.

So, in early 2021, I published Ireland’s first Remote Work Strategy. It is a crossgovernment plan to ensure we approach remote working cohesively and make it a permanent feature of Ireland’s workforce in a way that can benefit all – economically, socially, and environmentally.

Credit: Merrion Street

“Many of you have read about ‘quiet quitting’ and ‘the great resignation’. I am not so sure we are witnessing the start of new phenomena, but I certainly think people are re-evaluating their careers and their lives as a result of the pandemic. Perhaps, it will prove to be more a ‘great reset’.”

Among its main actions are:

1. Mandating that home and remote work should be the norm for 20 per cent of public sector employment. The public sector must lead by example and earlier this year we published a Blended Working Policy Framework for Civil Service Organisations, which was developed in collaboration with civil service employers, trade unions, and staff associations.

2. Reviewing the treatment of remote working for the purposes of tax and expenditure in the next Budget. An enhanced income tax deduction of 30 per cent of heat, electricity and broadband expenses for remote workers was announced in Budget 2022.

3. Mapping and investing in a network of remote working hubs across Ireland. We launched ConnectedHubs.ie, Ireland’s national digital hub network last year. There are currently 290 remote and co-working facilities across the country on-boarded to the connectedhubs.ie platform. This number is growing all the time meaning we are well on track to meet our target of 400 remote working hubs nationwide by 2025.

4. Legislating for the right to request remote working. While reaching agreement on this legislation has been more difficult than expected, the Oireachtas Committee published its pre-legislative scrutiny report in July, and we plan to finalise our proposals before the end of the year.

Credit: Fine Gael

connectivity and the future of work report

5. Developing a code of practice for the right to disconnect. I requested the Workplace Relations Commission to develop a Code of Practice on the right to disconnect and a legally admissible code was published in April 2021.

6. Doing what we can to accelerate the provision of high-speed broadband to all parts of Ireland. While the National Broadband Plan has been impacted negatively by Covid-19, the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications is continuing to engage with National Broadband Ireland and delivery of the Plan has regained momentum in recent months. Over 100,000 homes, farms and businesses will be passed (capable of being connected to fibre) by January and close to 200,000 by the end of next year.

So, as you can see, good progress has been made.

Striking the right balance on the Right to Request Remote Work legislation has proven difficult. It will, for the first time, provide a legal framework around which requesting, approving, or refusing a request for remote work can be based. It will also provide legal clarity to employers on their obligations for dealing with such requests.

Of course, in practice, employers and employees are agreeing to arrangements that suit both sides. In the vast majority of workplaces, no legislation is required to make this happen. That is borne out by the results of the Third Annual National Remote Working Survey carried out by the University of Galway and the Western Development Commission.

The past two-and-a-half years, especially during lockdown, gave people the time to consider their lives, their

work life balance, and the meaning of work.

Many of you have read about ‘quiet quitting’ and ‘the great resignation’. I am not so sure we are witnessing the start of new phenomena, but I certainly think people are re-evaluating their careers and their lives as a result of the pandemic. Perhaps, it will prove to be more a ‘great reset’.

Wages will be important, especially with inflation, but workers will increasingly push employers to be more creative about the types of jobs they offer.

The battle for talent in a globalised economy will become even more important in the coming years. Ukraine, inflation, labour shortages and a range of other factors are coming together to make that battle even more intense.

Employers will struggle to recruit and retain staff. Ireland will have to make sure it is ahead of the curve, offering better terms and conditions than elsewhere, to continue growing employment.

So, I believe better pay, terms and conditions make sense for everyone –for workers and families, for jobs, business, and investment and for the public finances.

I also believe that the most important workers’ right is the right to work, so we need to guard against any policies that might reduce employment levels or harm business. We need to be very cognisant of that at the most, given rising costs and falling consumer confidence, so we must not move too fast.

As a government, we are working to ensure the pandemic leaves a legacy of a more inclusive and secure society.

Full employment. Good jobs. Secure jobs.

“We want to retain the creativity and innovation that flourishes from people meeting each other and do not want people to become isolated. We want our city centres to remain vibrant places.”

Pexip: Powering the future of citizen services with scalable video for public sector

Global video conferencing software provider, Pexip, is trusted by many governments and public sector organisations for delivering secure and scalable video communications. Its unique offering simplifies video communications by unifying meeting participants across multiple platforms and devices.

The power of video for access to services

While video is not necessary for every engagement between government and citizens, when personal contact requiring non-verbal communication and empathy are imperative for a successful customer interaction, video is an unrivalled medium. When it is wellimplemented, video can help a service scale while also delivering higher levels of client satisfaction.

Nick Ross, Head of Public Sector UK and Ireland for Pexip explains: “Certainly, more and more customers in the retail, banking and customer service industries want to use video for transactions where they know these things are important, but this shift is happening in the public sector too.

Many agencies are now appreciating that video is the best alternative to face to face for several key services in the welfare interviews, social care and revenue consultancies.”

With a firm focus on data security and data sovereignty, Pexip’s innovative technology is enabling public sector organisations in Ireland and further afield, to extend their reach by providing

secure, easy-to-join appointments and meetings for citizens from any device or location, enhancing their existing services, tools and workflows as well as improving user experience.

Impact of Covid-19 pandemic

“Clearly, the Covid-19 pandemic brought about a rapid shift in both the public’s usage and expectations of video meetings,” says Ross. “We were compelled to use it and get used to it, and consequently are more willing to accept it in place of traditionally face to face engagements. The public sector was pressed to quickly adapt to new ways of delivering. With government departments forced to close high street locations where large volumes of their transactions with the public took place, they had to think differently about how they maintained continuity through that period.”

Will this be the new norm?

With locations now re-opening and face to face services resuming, government

departments are now committed to maintaining video channels as part of a hybrid approach, with face to face complemented by a stronger digital capability. This is now the direction of travel for much of the public sector.

According to Ross: “Not only is it more effective for the delivery organisation, it also provides greater choice for citizens in a world where they are increasingly under pressure for time and expect the services from their local authority, health provider and central ministries to be as accessible as those in the private sector.”

Learn more about Pexip’s Secure Solutions here:

nicholas.ross@pexip.com

www.pexip.com/government

connectivity and the future of work report

of

Five things Ireland must do to maintain its competitive advantage

Every now and then, it is worth taking a moment to look at ‘Ireland Inc’. How is it performing? What have we accomplished in the last 12 months? What did we fail at? And what should we really be focused on now?

Ireland is a small country that has played an outsized leadership role over the past 50 years.

After its electrification and road network build-out, Ireland was the first country in the world to institute a nationwide comprehensive law for smoke-free workplaces, and it was the first to legalise same-sex marriage by popular vote.

A far-sighted free education scheme in the 1960s has given us the most concentrated university graduate population in Europe today.

Developing a business-friendly tax scheme, over some European Union protests, has also been important. This convinced some of the largest companies in the world to set up shop to hire, train and employ thousands of Irish citizens. We are still reaping the benefits today. If you follow the international news closely, you know that the tax advantage Ireland once had is slipping away. The world is moving towards a more uniform corporate tax rate, a change that would eliminate the competitive advantage we have built for ourselves. That is why there is now a special urgency to the question of

David McCourt, chairman of National Broadband Ireland, writes.

what Ireland needs to focus on in the future.

Collectively, we need to find a new strategic advantage to stay competitive and ensure we remain an attractive destination for global businesses as well as fostering business growth at home.

First, we must maintain and build on the strong foundation we have created over the last 50 years as a market with a hardworking, educated population, and a high-quality education and healthcare system.

Second, Ireland needs a plan to address the fact that, at present, one-third of the Irish economy is made up of money that is just passing through the country. We need a plan to keep more of this capital here. This is a complex challenge that will require us doing a lot of things differently. But solving this issue starts with focusing on attracting long-term capital for critical projects and launching efforts to ensure Ireland owns more of its own intellectual property, across business, software, and entertainment.

Third, we must decentralise opportunity. For too long, rural areas around the globe have been left behind in terms of economic opportunity. Ireland is no different. For all the vibrancy of our small towns and villages, the best schools, the best hospitals, the best jobs, and the best infrastructure are found in our cities.

Urban areas have an incredible advantage, partially thanks to access to connectivity and digital services. Many rural areas have been left underserved, creating all sorts of knock-on issues and problems, and limiting our potential.

To grow as a nation, we need to create jobs where people live. We need, through technology, to create new companies, grow existing businesses, and attract employment remotely from global corporations.

Fourth, and this point is connected to the previous point, Ireland must finish its bold plan to make high-speed broadband available to every man, woman, and child in the country through its National Broadband Plan. As chairman of National Broadband Ireland, I obviously have a vested interest in making this happen, but as an Irish citizen living in rural Ireland, my connection and commitment to this venture is not just a matter of business. I truly believe that the work of being successful in the future and decentralising opportunity starts with universal access to world-leading broadband. I also believe that it will prove critical, in the long term, to improving education, healthcare and bringing jobs to rural Ireland.

Finally, Ireland needs to be an active participant in setting the tech rules and regulation for Internet 3.0 and 4.0. I have been blessed to spend 30 years in the technology, media, and telecommunication industries. In this time, I have seen a lot of change – but that 30 years of change is nothing compared to what is about to happen.

Just last year, the EU started the process of changing internet regulations with the Digital Services and Digital Markets Acts. At present these are on a path to becoming law with little or no global collaboration and we risk having laws that are not aligned with some of our closest allies outside of Europe, including the United States.

Ireland is well positioned to take the lead in bringing the EU, America, and other developed nations together to establish a global set of rules, which can help protect consumers and foster business growth across Ireland.

We have new, critical opportunities to further strengthen Ireland’s economy and promote greater opportunity. The time to act is now.

and the future

W: www.nbi.ie

“I truly believe that the work of being successful in the future and decentralising opportunity starts with universal access to world-leading broadband. I also believe that it will prove critical, in the long term, to improving education, healthcare and bringing jobs to rural Ireland.”

NBI workers rolling out National Broadband Plan infrastructure.

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connectivity and the future of work report

Three targets for digital connectivity

The Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications has released a draft document of its Digital Connectivity Strategy.

The strategy sets out three overall targets for digital connectivity in the State:

1. All Irish households and businesses will be covered by a gigabyte (GB) network no later than 2028.

2. All populated areas covered by 5G by no later than 2030.

3. Complete the delivery of digital connectivity to all connected hubs and all schools by 2023.

Setting out the purpose of the strategy, the Department states that it will encourage investment in energy efficient solutions, network integrity and security, and support and facilitate the modernisation of existing networks and transition to GB and 5G networks both with direct and indirect government supports.

It further pledges to ensure that the regulatory framework promotes infrastructure competition,

encourages investment, and supports innovation in emerging technologies.

Plans of action

The draft document outlines a number of potential plans of action to ensure that the three targets are met.

One of these is ensuring investment by commercial operators in quality, secure, and resilient GB network services to the vast majority of premises, which the Department believes will lead to the deployment of GB network services through the National Broadband Plan’s state-led Intervention.

The Department further intends to introduce a universal service obligation with the aim of ensuring that broadband is accessible for all, as well as the strategic placement of high-speed connectivity in certain locations throughout the State, including an initiative under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) to provide high-speed broadband

connectivity to up to 1,100 primary schools through the Schools Broadband Programme.

The document further outlines intentions to establish a broadband connection point project with the aim of ensuring that 300 points throughout the State are provided with high-speed broadband for public use. This will be underpinned by the continuation of the rollout of Eduroam WiFi spots in the State’s public spaces such as libraries, universities, town centres, and healthcare facilities.

The aim of ensuring the international connectivity infrastructure to and from the State are resilient, suitably diverse, and robust so that they can serve the demands of the national requirements, is additionally set out in the document.

Ireland’s 5G network needs to continue to be released “with appropriate coverage and deployment obligations, and continuous monitoring of the use of this spectrum for both indoor and outdoor locations, to ensure it is used efficiently and effectively,” the draft document states.

The document emphasises the necessity of “ensuring that public administrations maximise the benefit from 5G technologies through the creation of infrastructure that enables users to process data at the appropriate location (e.g. edge node; regional node; or cloud)”.

“This will contribute significantly to Ireland’s Public Protection and Disaster Relief (PPDR) capability while also providing practical insights on the use of these solutions to all sectors.”

“The vast majority of premises in urban and suburban areas will be covered with a fibre to the home services with GB network services being made available to these locations by 2026.”

Key to the 5G progression is the appropriate spectrum is made available and that mobile connectivity solutions are provided for the use of public services.

Meeting the State’s connectivity needs will require the adaption and awareness of new emerging technologies over the coming decade. The document states that “fostering the necessary ecosystems to facilitate the deployment of smart city applications and services in urban/suburban, town settings and rural communities” will play a complementary role to the facilitation of new emerging technologies.

Key strategic enablers

The document outlines a list of key strategic enablers, the implementation of which will ensure that the connectivity commitments are met within the timeframe specified.

The first enabler outlined in the document is that of ensuring the commercial investment necessary in connectivity in the state. “The vast majority of premises in urban and suburban areas will be covered with a fibre to the home services with GB network services being made available to these locations by 2026.

“Commercial investment is expected to result in GB network services being made available to the vast majority of premises, in primarily urban and suburban areas covering circa 77 per cent of the premises across the State and 5G services being made available to all populated areas across the State once the appropriate spectrum is made available.”

The document additionally places an emphasis on the importance of continuing with the National Broadband Plan, liaising with the Mobile Phone and Broadband Taskforce, ensuring that there is the necessary international connectivity, and that the necessary regulations are in place.

The regulatory framework will be decided at a European level by the European Electronic Communications Code, and domestically by the national regulatory authority, the Commission for Communications Regulation, who have responsibility for the rollout of 5G connectivity in the State as well as the radio spectrum.

and the future of work

Connectivity and the future of work

• collective rights of teleworkers.

The framework agreement was innovative and its intention was to define a general framework for the use of telework in such a way as to meet the needs of employers and workers.

Technology was becoming accessible and sophisticated enough that knowledge-based workers could now conceivably carry out their work outside the traditional office setting.

Commentators in 2000 discussed the challenges of getting traditionalists to change their mindset. As we moved into the 2010s, and with disruptive technologies rapidly transforming the world of work and potentially increasing the proportion of knowledge-based roles in Ireland, flexible options such as remote work became not just a viable option but, for many, an expectation.

Both the 2019 Remote Work in Ireland report and the National Remote Work Strategy adopted the definition of ‘telework’, as described in the 2002 European Framework Agreement: “A form of organising and/or performing work, using information technology, in the context of an employment contract/relationship, where work, which could also be performed at the employer’s premises, is carried out away from those premises on a regular basis.”

Remote working 2022

Back to the future

In 1998, Ireland established the National Advisory Council on Teleworking. In July 2002, the European Framework Agreement on Telework established a general framework at European level for teleworkers' working conditions and prompted member states to implement the agreement over the following years to 2005. The issues highlighted back then remain relevant today. They were:

• the voluntary nature of teleworking;

• employment conditions;

• data protection;

• privacy;

• equipment;

• health and safety;

• organisation of working time;

• training of teleworkers; and

The Irish Government had already recognised and highlighted the potential for remote working in the 2019 Future Jobs Ireland Report, and so when the pandemic struck in early 2020, much of the groundwork had been done. The Remote Working Strategy was published in January 2021, and a code of practice for employers and employees on the right to disconnect was introduced in April 2021.

The Right to Request Remote Work Bill

Long before the pandemic and as far back as July 1997, the European Commission adopted recommendations on the labour market and the social dimension of the information society – which included commitments to promote teleworking in Europe, writes Beauchamps Employment Partner Sandra Masterson Power.

Sandra Masterson Power, Beauchamps.

2022 will, when enacted, provide a framework around which requesting, approving, or refusing a request to work remotely can be based. It will provide legal clarity to employers on their obligations for dealing with such requests.

Trust has been identified as an aspect of workplace culture that is particularly important in enabling remote work and is seen as an enabler of and a barrier to remote working. Given that there is an implied duty of trust and confidence in every employment contract, a lack of trust has the potential to damage the employment relationship and ultimately cause a breakdown in that relationship which can lead to conflict, which leads to retention issues and resignations or litigation. A negative workplace culture and an absence of trust are, therefore, risk issues and need to be borne in mind.

Right to disconnect

The right to disconnect refers to employees’ right to switch off from work outside normal working hours and not to respond to incoming communications from work and has three main elements:

i. The right of an employee to not routinely perform work outside normal working hours.

ii. The right to not be penalised for refusing to attend to work matters outside of normal working hours.

iii. The duty to respect another person’s right to disconnect (e.g., by not routinely emailing or calling outside normal working hours).

The creation of a culture in which employees feel they can disconnect from work and work-related devices necessitates a joint approach by both employers and employees. While placing the onus of management of working time on the employer is appropriate, individual responsibility on the part of employees is also required.

The Code of Practice helpfully sets out employer obligations, but the employee obligations warrant judicious consideration by employers. If remote working is to work to maximum effect, employers will have to reflect on culture and management style and will need to empower employees to take responsibility, employers will need to move away from command and control/traditional management styles.

Work-life balance

The Work-life Balance Directive came into force in EU member states in

August 2019. The Directive includes the right to request flexible working arrangements for carers and working parents of children up to 8 years old. Member states have three years to comply with the Directive and transposition in Ireland is led by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. Whilst the transposition deadline has passed, the Work-life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022 is expected to be enacted by the end of 2022. Its stated aim is to increase the participation of women in the labour market and the take up of family-related leave and flexible working arrangements. It will also have provisions for domestic violence leave.

Conclusion

It is fair to say that in 2022, there are still those that hold a more traditional

view that office-based working is the only way. To be fair, the pandemic has shown, that for many roles, it is the only way. Are there cultural issues around trust that underpin some of that thinking? Organisations have to be careful not to create a two-tier system and should challenge themselves objectively on the reasons for not making remote working available to all cohorts of employees.

The Right to Request Remote Working Bill and the Work-Life Balance Bill are priority bills on the Autumn Legislative Programme. By the end of 2022, the future anticipated back in 1997 will have arrived.

T: +353 (0)1 4180985

E: s.mastersonpower@beauchamps.ie W: www.beauchamps.ie

“The creation of a culture in which employees feel they can disconnect from work and work-related devices necessitates a joint approach by both employers and employees. While placing the onus of management of working time on the employer is appropriate, individual responsibility on the part of employees is also required.”

and the future of work report

Future of work and connectivity: In focus

connectivity and the future of work

both in work and in daily life. These changes have been further exacerbated by the onset of Covid-19, when the availability of remote work was accelerated for many employees. The impact of this has been widely received as positive from both employees’ and employers’ perspectives.

Covid-19 and remote working

• Poll sample of 8,428

52% of respondents are currently working hybrid (sometimes remotely, sometimes onsite) and 40% are working fully remotely. 8% are working fully onsite.

58% of respondents never worked remotely before Covid-19

50% of respondents indicated that their organisation has confirmed how they will work remotely in the future whilst 22% are in a trial phase.

29% have not yet decided on future work patterns.

• Of the 50% of respondents whose organisations have confirmed their future working patterns: 61% indicated that they will work hybrid 30% indicated that they will work completely remotely 9% will work fully onsite.

• For the half of respondents who indicated that they will work hybrid into the future the following are the hybrid work patterns:

3% are expected to be onsite a minimum of 4 days a week 24% are expected to be onsite a minimum of 3 days a week

36% are expected to be onsite a minimum of 2 days a week 17% are expected to be onsite a minimum of 1 day a week 8% are expected to be onsite several days a month

12% indicated “other”

• In terms of how remote working affects respondents’ loyalty to their employer: 48% indicated that remote working positively affects their loyalty, 39% report that it has no effect, and 6% indicated that it has a negative effect. 7% indicated that they don’t know what affect remote working has on their loyalty to their employer.

• Of the 27% of respondents who had changed employer since the outbreak of Covid-19:

47% indicated that remote working was a key factor in their decision to change employer as their new employer offered better remote working opportunities.

53% indicated that remote working was not a key factor in changing employer.

Source: Whittaker Institute, University of Galway

Internet usage in the State

• Poll sample of 8,428

Over one in five (22%) internet users went online to look for a job or to submit a job application

Two thirds (67%) of internet users reported seeking health related information.

80% internet users used internet telephoning/video calls (e.g. Skype, Zoom) in 2021.

Females were more likely than males to use VoIP – 87% of females compared with 74% of males

• Instant messaging e.g. Skype, Messenger, WhatsApp.

Usage was reported by 84% of internet users.

However, the survey results tell us that it was for persons aged between 30 and 59 years for whom this activity was most prevalent – 91% of persons aged 30 to 44 years and 88% of internet users in the 45 to 59 years age group.

Females tend to use instant messaging more than males – 87% of females compared with 82% of males

• Communication on social network platforms

Almost nine in ten (89%) persons aged 16 to 29 years communicated on social network platforms

85% of persons aged 30 to 44 years and 72% of persons in the 45 to 59 years age group. Just 45% of internet users aged 60 to 74 years used social networking platforms to communicate.

• Internet banking

Nearly eight in ten (78%) internet users used internet or mobile banking (includes PayPal, Revolut, etc.) in 2021.

The age group that was most likely to use internet banking was the 30 to 44 years age group (84%).

70% of internet users aged between 60 and 74 years avail of internet banking

Source: CSO, Internet and Platform Work Survey

connectivity and the future of work report

Talent for the future world of work

Moving from one crisis to the next has almost become the norm for business leaders over the last seven years. With an open, globalised economy, Ireland is impacted more than most by global macro trends. Focused on talent development, Skillnet Ireland ensures companies have the skills in place to weather short-term shocks and prepare for long-term challenges.

From Brexit to the pandemic, war in Ukraine to record inflation, leading organisations in a permanent state of flux is challenging and feeling at ease with the often-unknown direction of change can seem elusive.

Few would argue that the two most important megatrends of the next 10 years and the future world of work will be climate change and digitalisation. While we have all been keenly focussed on addressing both, the links between the two are impossible to ignore. As the path toward a sustainable, low-carbon economy becomes clearer, it is evident that climate change and digitalisation are intertwined in more ways than one.

Building a climate-resilient economy

Ireland is taking proactive steps to building an environmentally sustainable and climateneutral economy by 2050. The roadmap to achieving this target is underpinned by the Climate Action Bill, which commits to a 51 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by the end of the decade. As the impact on individual sectors takes shape, it is inevitable that industries will undergo radical structural transformation as the transition gathers pace.

Ireland's ambition to transition to a low carbon, sustainable economy will be driven by the preparedness of businesses and the workforce, demanding new skills. What is also

clear is that new technologies will play a fundamental part in this change. Digitalisation enables new and greater forms of transparency, collaboration, and control. The ability to rapidly leverage data not only helps inform decisionmaking around production and consumption, but also uncovers many possibilities in terms of research, innovation, and sustainable business actions.

Mark Jordan, Chief Strategy Officer at Skillnet Ireland says: “Digital transformation is colliding with global megatrends like climate change. However, as we have witnessed over the past year, if digitalisation and emerging technologies like AI, IoT and blockchain are harnessed correctly, digital change can have a positive and lasting impact

Pictured at the launch of the Climate Ready Academy Stackable Microcredits in Partnership with the University of Limerick were: Ken Stockil, CEO Central Solutions; Kerstin Mey, President UL; Senator Róisín Garvey; Paul Healy, CEO, Skillnet Ireland; and Brian Leddin TD.

across sectors, boosting the efficiency and competitiveness of businesses.

“To capitalise on the opportunities presented by digitalisation and climate adaptation, it is important to recognise where both forces intersect. Through Climate Ready, Skillnet Ireland will continue to work with industry to deliver leading-edge workforce development programmes that are agile and reflective of the transition to a circular economy.”

Enabling innovation and talent

In early 2022, Skillnet Ireland published research on Talent for the Green Economy in partnership with the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI). The report found specific skills gaps which are holding back businesses in developing and implementing sustainability strategies.

The top skill sets needed in the medium term to support the transition to a lowcarbon economy identified by enterprises include: waste management skills; corporate sustainability strategy skills; carbon management skills; and sustainable finance skills.

This research reveals that many companies are already working on strategies and putting in place policies to identify the specific skills required to support enterprise innovations with environmental benefits. In response to the ESRI research, Climate Ready Academy has recently launched a Sustainability Leaders Programme which supports leaders in integrating sustainability into their business strategy.

Micro credentials for climate change transitions

Created in response to the Government’s Climate Action Plan and the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill, Skillnet Ireland’s Climate Ready initiative is designed to equip leaders with the practical skills and knowledge needed to prepare for climate change –delivering real results for the economy, workforce, and climate. The demand for, and engagement with, the Climate Ready programme has been exceptional, supporting more than 1,600 companies and 3,200 people across all sectors in its first year.

Jordan says: “We are seeing high levels of interest from businesses in taking action through their engagement with our

“To capitalise on the opportunities presented by digitalisation and climate adaptation, it is important to recognise where both forces intersect. Through Climate Ready, Skillnet Ireland will continue to work with industry to deliver leading-edge workforce development programmes that are agile and reflective of the transition to a circular economy.”

talent development and upskilling supports in areas from energy management, offshore wind, biodiversity, waste and the circular economy, transport, sustainable finance and MMC [modern methods of construction]. We are seeing similarly high demand for digitalisation programmes through our 72 Skillnet Business Networks including artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing, data science, cybersecurity, and engineering.”

In October 2022, Skillnet Ireland launched the first enterprise-led microcredential digital badge programmes dedicated to climate action in Ireland, through its Climate Ready Academy and in partnership with the University of Limerick (UL). The three micro credential programmes – Energy Leaders, Waste and Circular Economy Leaders, and Sustainability Leaders – are designed to incentivise and support employees in developing practical environmental improvements for their businesses.

University of Limerick President Kerstin

Mey said: “This is a great example of how we collaborate with industry through Skillnet Ireland and the Climate Ready Academy to deliver a new form of learning which is based on the microcredential earned through the participation in each individual programme. The stackable microcredentials will enable participants to apply practical skills for climate action within their business and obtain a Level 7 Certificate awarded by our university.”

Skillnet Ireland’s focus is on driving business success and enabling innovation within both multinationals and SMEs. Its talent development initiatives have been powerful in driving innovation across a wide range of areas including digitalisation, climate and building talent for the future world of work.

W: www.skillnetireland.ie/think-talent / www.climatereadyacademy.ie

connectivity and the future of work

Pictured at the launch of Skillnet Ireland’s Irish Immersive Economy Report (L-R): Tracey Donnery, Director of Policy and Communications, Skillnet Ireland; Fiona Kilkelly, Chair of Eirmersive; Susan Talbot, Network Manager, Immersive Technologies Skillnet; Camille Donegan, Creative Director, SolarVR; and Pauline Logan, Director of Research and Strategy, Pivotal EdTech.

Three pillars to reduce the rural-urban broadband gap

The Mobile Phone and Broadband Taskforce has announced its new programme for work, which outlines ‘three pillars’ of delivery between 2022 and 2025.

Established in 2016 with the aim of reducing the gap in broadband quality between urban and rural Ireland, the taskforce is a cross-government initiative for which responsibility is shared between the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications and the Department for Rural and Community Development. The report on the first three years of the taskforce’s operations states that it delivered 70 initiatives which have successfully reduced the quality gap.

The taskforce held its first meeting since the reformed plans in April 2022, which was co-chaired by Minister for Rural Development Heather Humphries TD, and Minster of State Ossian Smyth TD. The group states that its top priority will be delivery of mobile phone and broadband actions that implement the EU Connectivity Toolbox’s best practices relating to the further streamlining of permitting and licensing granting procedures.

The Government’s National Broadband Plan reduced its initial target of high-quality broadband from 200,000 to 102,000 by January 2023, owing to complications arising from Covid-19. The plan aims to increase the number of premises with high-quality broadband from 77 per cent to 95 per cent by 2025.

To help achieve this in rural Ireland, the taskforce outlines six plans in its first pillar which aim to improve planning and licencing, including enforcement of article eight of the Broadband Cost Reduction Directive by “promoting the installation of ducting at new builds which specifically supports fibre broadband rollout, made accessible at all

locations within the new build,” which it aims to do within the next 12 months.

Long-term, the taskforce aims to on measures to address the issues of ownership of ducting and chambers, as well as review and update planning guidelines from a telecommunications policy perspective, taking into account sectoral developments and the need to adapt to emerging technologies.

The second pillar is improving information and access to assets and infrastructure. In the first year, the taskforce aims to make fixed radio links information publicly available and in a downloadable format via the Siteviewer resource, to provide greater overall transparency to relevant stakeholders regarding services deployed in certain areas.

In the medium term (one to two years), they aim to develop a standard approach and associated guidance document in relation to ducting and chamber deployments to support a ‘dig once’ policy.

The third and final pillar is improving consumer information, advice and experience. One of the short-term plans is to conduct a data analysis exercise to examine the main areas of telecoms advertising that generate consumer complaints, and provide guidance and/or directions to the sector to address any failings. In the medium term, it hopes to launch a consumer information campaign aiming to improve awareness of the basics of new technologies available.

future of work report

Remote working the wish of Irish employees

The Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns changed the way of working for a generation of Irish workers. Whilst previously working in an office everyday was a matter of routine, remote working was seen to be a key means of bridging the gap many workers feel existed in work-life balance.

Leo Varadkar TD, in his role as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, stated his ambition in the foreword of the National Remote Working Strategy, which was “mandating that home and remote work should be the norm for 20 per cent of public sector employment”, in addition to legislating that workers should “have a right to request” remote working.

The strategy, which was launched amid the popularity of remote working through the pandemic, reported that 94 per cent of workers in Ireland who engaged in the process were interested in having a right to remote working.

The Right to Request Remote Work Bill 2021 is the subsequent legislation which has emerged with the aim of ensuring that remote working is more accessible for employees. It is, however, slanted towards ensuring that the interests of employers are protected, and that employees are not automatically entitled to remote working, rather merely guaranteeing a right to request.

The Bill includes one of the provisions for rejection as “burden of additional costs, taking into account the financial and other costs entailed and the scale and financial resources of the employer’s business”.

The employer is mandated to respond

to the employee’s request within 12 weeks, and is given a number of acceptable reasons for which an employer can refuse remote work, including that remote work could have a “potential negative impact on quality of business product or service”.

Additionally, the employee is only able to prevail of the right to request remote work when they have completed half a year of continuous employment with their company.

There are a number of measures in the Bill which are designed to protect existing rights for employees and to prevent victimisation.

The first of these is a measure stipulating that an employee, in the event of their remote working request being rejected, cannot be penalised by their employer for requesting remote work.

The second is ensuring that there is no preferential treatment with remote work, and that there is a standardised approach to remote working in workplaces, and that there is a single policy which covers workers. The current proposal outlined in the Bill is to fine employers who do not publish their remote working policy to the tune of €2,500.

Provisions of the Right to Request Remote Work Bill 2021:

Head 6 (Minimum service levels to submit request): Employee must have completed 26 weeks of continuous employment before availing of right to request remote work

Head 12 (Declining a request for remote working): Employer can deny remote work request if it “is not suitable on business grounds”.

Head 14 (Requirement for employers to have a formal remote working policy): Requires employers to adopt a formal company policy on remote working, can be fined up to €2,500 if not done.

Head 15 (Protection of employees from penalisation): Protects an employee for proposing to exercise or having exercised their entitlement to request remote working.

Regional Focus: Galway City Council

Galway City: The beating heart of the west

Galway is the only city and the principal growth centre in the Northern and Western Regional Assembly. The city is a key driver of economic development and competitiveness on the Atlantic Economic Corridor, making a significant contribution to the region’s GDP.

The city is also a major economic force in the Irish economy, leading in foreign and indigenous commercial investment, higher educational institutional achievement, workforce skills, and enjoying a rich cultural and heritage environment.

In recent decades, due to the high quality of life found here, the city has also become one of the most popular locations in Ireland in which to live, work, invest, or visit. This is a city of communities that are well connected, integrated, and inclusive.

Galway has been Ireland’s most rapidly developing urban area for half a century. Galway City will grow its population by 40,000 by 2040. This journey has begun. It will be achieved through a combination of organic population growth, retention of graduates, and attraction of new citizens.

It will require significant investment in infrastructure across the entire spectrum. To make this

growth sustainable and carbon neutral is a priority. It will need comparable employment growth during this period to make it viable. The skillset of the city’s labour force will also need to evolve over this period.

The city relishes this opportunity. It has successfully embraced such growth rates in the recent past while retaining the features that make this place in the world so attractive and unique. It is a centre of learning, a Capital of Culture, an innovation hub, and an affordable and safe community. This placemaking to date has been successfully facilitated by the various stakeholders in the city through collaborative relationships and this continued collaboration will be essential to ensure that our vision for growth is achieved.

The city is located at a pivotal point on the Atlantic Economic Corridor. This is a multilingual city with a diverse but integrated society that is open and welcoming. It has a successful innovation ecosystem

that is recognised as a sought-after location for international businesses and start-up enterprises. This is supported by a creative culture that permeates all business sectors.

Galway is located in one of the most scenic parts of the world, at the heart of the Wild Atlantic Way and contiguous to a UNESCO Geopark site. The city’s surrounding hinterland is diverse, engaging, entrancing, and healthy.

The next phases of Galway city’s growth must be more sustainable. The city will decarbonise its future growth. International trends and national policy are directing that the future growth of the city is biased towards the urban core.

Galway city is already witnessing that direction of private and public investment towards the development of commercial and residential property at the city’s core to cater for the changing demands.

The city’s transport policy is also

facilitating a behavioural change from private vehicles to public transport and non-vehicular transport. Investment is being channelled to projects to accelerate this modal shift. Public transport corridors through the core of the city are being developed to link residential, learning, and employment hubs in the city in tandem with the development of city greenways and blueways.

Galway city will increase its population by at least 50 per cent by 2040. This will involve:

• creating 16,500 residential units;

Growth in a sustainable manner - key enabling infrastructure will be put in place which includes:

• increased rail capacity at Ceannt Station and double tracking of rail connectivity between the city core and national rail network;

• increased rail platforms servicing the east of the city;

• increased water and waste treatment capacity;

• public transport corridors through the core of the city;

• greenways and blueways through the core of the city linking to national greenway routes;

• full development of infrastructure in the Galway Transportation Strategy;

• the Galway City Outer Bypass;

• further development of University of Galway campus;

• further development of ATU campus in Galway city;

• investment in the public realm;

• investment in energy networks city wide fibre-based communication networks;

• recreational and green space;

• cultural infrastructure;

• educational infrastructure; and

• health infrastructure.

• creating an additional 18,500 jobs for citizens of the city;

• providing an additional 7,000 third level student places;

• creating the capacity to handle an additional 2.7 million visitors per annum;

• providing commercial office space of 150,000 sq metres; and

• Increasing commercial retail space.

W: www.galwaycity.ie

Completed, current and pre-approved city projects:

Cluain Mhuire Creative Hub; SCCUL Enterprise Hub; ATU Innovation Hub; Bonham Quay development; Crown Square development; Sandy Road Quarter; Galway Inner Dock Masterplan; Ceannt Quarter development; Dyke Road Masterplan; Development of Ardaun Corridor; Galway Port expansion; Galway Technology Centre; Portershed Innovation District - Phases I and II; Nun’s Island Riverside Campus; Galway Transportation Strategy; University of Galway Library; and GCC Housing Capital Programme.

REGIONAL FOCUS: GALWAY CITY COUNCIL

Galway city socioeconomic profile

With an area of around 54km2, Galway is the fifth biggest city in Ireland after Dublin, Belfast, Cork, and Limerick, as well as the fifth most populous, and is the only city in Connacht. Predominantly a student city, it has the highest per capita student population in the State.

The city has been relatively prosperous throughout the last decade and is the most diverse city in the State as well as being a hub of Irish culture as the city with the highest daily use of Gaeilge.

Transport can be regarded as the city’s point for improvement, although its connectivity has been improved since the construction of the M6 motorway connecting Galway city with Dublin. Galway is the most isolated city in the State from an airport, a legacy of the 2008 recession when Galway Airport, which once facilitated 300,000 users per year, was closed in 2011.

The city’s harbour has applied for permits to expand pending the approval of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, although this process has been ongoing since 2014 and will not be completed until 2032 at the earliest.

Demographics

Galway city population: 83,456

Galway most multi-cultural city in the State: 18.6 per cent ‘non-Irish’

30 per cent families with lone parents – state average of 25 per cent 55 per cent of population has a third-level qualification 8.6 per cent of people with no formal education

Source: Galway City Council

Housing

Average house price in the Galway city: €354,569

Average house price in the State: €311,514

National average rent: €1,618 per month

Average rent Galway: €1,663 per month

Source: Daft.ie

Third-level education

Approximately 29,000 full-time students 17,318 University of Galway students 12,000 Atlantic Technological University students 45.5 per cent of population with third-level education

Connectivity and transport

Nearest commercial airports:

Shannon Airport: 85km

Ireland West Knock Airport: 89km

Dublin Airport: 227km

23 per cent of population commute to work on foot

5 per cent commute by bicycle

8 per cent commute by bus/coach

Less than 1 per cent commute by train 60 per cent commute by car/van

3-hour train journey from Ceannt Station to Dublin Heuston, six times daily Galway harbour can accommodate vessels with up to 10,000 tonnes deadweight (DWT)

Inner dock of harbour can accommodate up to nine vessels at any time 3,691 users of Galway Harbour in 2017

Galway Harbour handled 1 per cent – 604,000 tonnes – of Ireland’s sea freight in 2017

Source: CSO

Economic activity

€18,873,525 paid in Covid-19 business restart grant schemes

€38,721,060 allocated to housing and building in the local budget 2022

€103,577,762 total spending in the local budget 2022

524 people employed by Galway City Council

This represents a 20 per cent decrease since 2013

€53 million granted in infrastructure funding from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage 44,376 people working in Galway city

Labour force participation rate 61 per cent

Over half (22,105) of workers in Galway city commute to their jobs

Source: 2016 Cencus, Galway City Council

REGIONAL FOCUS: GALWAY CITY COUNCIL

Change for the Galway International Arts Festival

Crumlish is originally from Donegal, but having studied for his bachelor’s degree in the University of Galway, then known as University College Galway, he returned to Ulster, studying for his master’s at Ulster University and working in Derry, before returning to Galway city for a summer holiday and being “seduced by the arts scene in the city”.

“I suppose you should say I ran away with the circus. It was the end of the ‘80s, and to see the can-do things in Galway at a time when the country was not at its greatest was eye opening, especially with the band scene which was starting to kick off.

“Nobody had ever seen the kind of work that the art festival was bringing in as there were not any venues at the time. It was a great place to be a really buzzing at the time.”

Crumlish says that he could not get the city “fully out of my system” and references the Eagles’ hit “Hotel California”, saying: “You can check out any time you any time you want but you can never leave.” “I think it’s a welcoming city, since medieval time it was a trading town and as a result there has always been a very welcoming nature to the place. It is very seductive,” he elaborates.

“When I started, there were not a lot of venues for the art festival, so we were forced to use pop-ups,

REGIONAL

FOCUS: Galway City Council

John Crumlish, CEO of the Galway International Arts Festival, talks to eolas Magazine about the operation of the festival, challenges for the arts industry from Covid, and his favourite parts of the job.

Mirror Pavilion, Leaf Work by John Gerrard in Deirgimleach, Conamara

Credit: Ros Kavanagh/Galway International Arts Festival.

which no one had heard of back then. Shows were always large scale, outdoors and with a lot of free work. Over the years, it has always been about ‘what is possible’ and always thinking big; Galway has always had that feel to it. We can take over the centre of town; it is our stage to play on whereas that cannot be done in Dublin.”

Another identifying feature is that the arts scene in Galway is reflective of the city’s proximity to Gaeltacht Conamara agus Árainn, with the complementary connection to Irish tradition, in addition to reflecting the international vibrancy of the city. It is in striking a balance here that Galway International Arts Festival strikes the balance of its existence in bringing the international to Galway, but also bringing Galway to the international stage.

“There is not a big problem of moving between from traditional arts to someone like [English electronic musician] Jon Hopkins, the festival is always multidisciplinary. Our job is to provide the best possible art experience for as many people as possible. Whether you are from Oileáin Árann or Ottawa, there should be something in our programme which suits you.”

This approach has helped the festival attract ever-increasing numbers, and its multidisciplinary offering of music, drama, art installations, political talks, literary readings and everything in between sees the festival attract “the culturally curious and tourists” alike.

“In terms of a usual year, just under half come from the west of Ireland,” Crumlish explains. “Then it is equally split between the rest of the country and international market, particularly the USA and the UK.”

The Arts Festival has been boosted by international exhibitions of works, such as Mirror Pavilion Leaf Work by the artist John Gerrard, in locations such as New York,

Guangzhou, Sydney, and London, efforts which were outdoors and thus not stopped by the Covid-19 pandemic. Crumlish states that this has allowed the festival to develop relationships with high-profile artists both domestically and internationally. “That was a big change,” Crumlish says. “We decided that we needed to get outside Galway and for longer than two weeks. We had realised that social media was going to become huge, and we needed things to talk about; these were cultural billboards.”

The industry today faces a number of challenges, including, Crumlish states: “There have been a lot of people changing careers because of big companies in the city that are advertising well-paying jobs, people are moving away from their passions a looking after their first needs, paying their mortgages.”

Galway also suffered uniquely from the pandemic and its associated lockdowns: designated the European City of Culture for 2020, the events and festivals planned withered to nothingness; one such victim was the 2020 Galway International Arts Festival, due to be “the biggest festival we had ever done”.

He adds: “I cannot see costs and Covid changing that much between now and the 2023 festival and it is very hard to budget. There are problems around supply chains; we get stuff from all over the world and even domestically it is hard to find suppliers.

“The other thing is that we have all been in a holding pattern for three years, we have to tip toe to the future and accept that this situation might not change for the foreseeable future. The holding pattern is over. Next year we need to build on this year’s success, and we want to revive the development work and projects that were stunted by Covid.”

REGIONAL FOCUS: Galway City Council

“Our job is to provide the best possible art experience for as many people as possible. Whether you are from Oileáin Árann or Ottawa, there should be something in our programme which suits you.”

Galway city: A student perspective

As a student leader amid an unparalleled housing crisis, Sai Gujulla, the Students’ Union president at the University of Galway, discusses tackling the housing crisis, priorities for the year ahead, and how the Covid19 pandemic changed student life in Galway city.

Gujulla states that the housing crisis in Galway city has been particularly challenging this year due to a chronic shortage of supply, exacerbated by graduates remaining in their accommodation, with some new students often forced to live peripherally in neighbouring regions.

Whilst some students’ unions pursue an activist approach to their policies, Gujulla opts for a cooperative approach with the university, which he states has resulted in the implementation of the ‘change’ platform on which he campaigned, as well as delivering a rent freeze on student accommodation.

“[The university] is open to change this year which the SU welcomes. The students have a president who will be happy to take part in any protest about housing.

“The university is building more accommodation on campus. It is also engaging with landlords in relation to the rent-a-room scheme, ensuring that tenancy rights are in place, as well as engaging with local hotels and bed and breakfasts,” he outlines.

Gujulla became president of the Students’ Union in July 2022. When asked about his priorities for the year ahead, he indicates that he wants to oversee the implementation of incremental yet significant changes for students in the University of Galway.

“For instance, our students did not have on-campus access to microwaves until last early September 2022, as a result of lingering Covid restrictions. The kind of change we are bringing is about following up and making things happen.

“We want to establish noncommercial spaces which will hopefully be created in the James Hardiman Library this year. Additionally, our students deserve a reading week; we are the only university in Ireland that does not guarantee a midsemester break.”

Gujulla outlines an environmental scheme which he hopes to see implemented: “We are in talks with the university over a 2GoCup scheme which will allow students to rent a cup when they get a coffee and receive €1 when it is returned.”

Gujulla has experienced the duration of the Covid-19 pandemic in his time as a student, which he believes led to a “huge drop in student engagement” across the university.

“If someone wanted to host an event, they had to get permission two weeks in advance and a proper room with sanitizers had to be booked. When students are hosting events like that, on top of their studies, they just do not have enough time or enough coordination to do it.”

However, the SU president does note that university sports teams are “in recovery” and that societies are “now fully up and running again”.

Likewise, he reiterates the importance of housing Galway’s student population, and collaboration with the Students’ Union of the Atlantic Technological University as “they are facing similar problems with us with housing and services on their own campuses”.

Sai Gujulla Students’ Union president University of Galway

Is muid Ollscoil na Gaillimhe We are University of Galway

Our decision to take this step on our journey followed detailed consideration and consultation. While our history of more than 175 years could never be captured solely in a name or a logo, we are confident our new identity reflects who we are, our essence, and our place in Ireland and the world. Its beauty is also its simplicity – we are a university, and we are in, of, and for, Galway.

University of Galway is built around our values – excellence, openness, respect, and sustainability. We are a global university, committed to outstanding students and staff, with world-class facilities for renowned education and research. We build on our heritage and history, remaining proactive and responsive to a rapidly changing world while providing the bedrock for Galway to thrive, not least as a global hub for medical technology, data and IT, and a city renowned for culture and creativity.

It is easy to look at Ireland and feel like we are on the edge, or the extremity, with continental Europe to the east and

an ocean and the Americas to the west. We look at where we are and we see a university open to the world. We offer a diverse learning community. We value the dynamism that our students bring to Galway, each year, from more than 90 countries and we work hard to ensure that ours is an accessible and inclusive campus. Along with our students, we are on a journey to become leaders in sustainability.

Our university is rooted in the unique culture, communities, language and landscape of the west of Ireland and our research is focused on many of the world’s most pressing challenges, as framed by the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Along with our bilingual identity, our new brand is based on the modern and traditional elements that are important aspects of our ethos, including the Quadrangle; 1845, the year in which the University was founded; and a vibrant colour which plays on maroon, synonymous with Galway.

Over the coming years we look forward to building new partnerships and collaborations locally, nationally, and globally. We hope you like our new name and identity. We hope you will embrace. All that we ask is that you watch out for #UniversityofGalway and where you see it, share it.

W: www.universityofgalway.ie

1 September 2022 marked a new chapter in the history of one of Ireland’s top universities. Professor Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh, President of University of Galway, writes how the new name and identity holds fast to a rich heritage dating back to 1845.

Tourism in Galway

Galway City is the third most visited city in the State, only after Cork and Dublin, and the Galway Tourism Strategy aims to increase the number of visiters to the city by 20 per cent by 2025, which will increase money generated by tourism by 25 per cent, giving the sector a value of €735 million.

The tourism sector has been tested due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but the strategy has endured and 2021 saw the construction of the new Galway City Museum, the establishment of a new water activity tourism hub, and, though not exhasustively, the Galway Brand Development project.

Galway is Ireland's only bilingual city and served as European Capital of Culture 2020; a significant recognition of its vibrant arts and cultural scene. The Gaeltacht areas and Irish speaking communities in Galway make it a uniquely bilingual region which fosters Irish language heritage and culture in many forms that have influenced daily life, from culture and traditions, music, language, dialect, and the vernacular buildings.

Galway’s tourism sector was once supported through a regional airport, Galway Airport, which used to have over 300,000 passengers using it per year, but this airport was closed for commercial operations in 2011 following the financial crash and the subsequently decline in aviation usage.

Visitors to Galway can still avail of the relatively nearby Ireland West Airport Knock and Shannon Airport. Additionally, the construction of the M6 motorway between Galway and Dublin means that flying to Dublin Airport is now a feasible option for visitors to Galway.

The strategic priorities are to: increase visitor numbers by 20 per cent by 2025 and increase the value of tourism to Galway

City Council

by 25 per cent, being worth €735 million by 2025; successfully manage the city’s reputation; support expanding or emerging tourism businesses to create excellent products and experiences; attract further investment; guide, develop and provide sustainable, world-class tourism experiences, suitable for the market and Galway’s communities; support local communities as ambassadors of the region; and work in partnership with stakeholders and engage with the industry.

Reputation management and marketing

The strategy includes three particular action plans which the Council hopes will help it to meet the targets for 2025, the first of which is centred on enhancing the reputation of Galway city as a destination and ensuring that there is an adequate marketing programme which can deliver this.

By 2025, the Council hopes to stablish and facilitate a high level Galway marketing/development group that will plan, track, and review progress and develop an annual action plan based on research findings. This group will then produce an annual report based on industry and visitor surveys that will highlight gaps and improvements needed in the tourism sector.

The action plan further outlines details to improve Galway city as a corporate destination, as well as encourage the city as a place with a four-day itinerary. To achieve this, Galway aims to develop an international marketing strategy for Galway in conjunction with Tourism Ireland and Fáilte Ireland.

Working with social influencers as well as

traditional media outlets to increase the awareness of Galway as a destination, the plan further aims to develop transport links to Galway, supporting airlines and the regional airports on destinations campaigns that highlight Galway in international markets with direct access to the west.

Capacity building and engagement

The strategy aims to enhance opportunities to promote training and up-skilling that is needed amongst tourism providers.

Working with Fáilte Ireland, the Council will develop local training programmes and encourage tourism businesses to take up training opportunities already available. It will additionally strengthen the links between tourism businesses, training providers, colleges, and universities.

To build capacity in the local community, the action plan says it will continue to support local initiatives Pride of Place, Tidy Towns, Purple Flag, and similar opportunities for community groups to learn from each other.

Developing experiences

To develop the experiences of visitors to the city, the strategy outlines the ambition to collaborate with industry partners in proposals for infrastructure projects such as Wild Atlantic Way Discovery Points and Loops, development of greenways, camper van facilities and private led projects that will enhance the Galway Tourism experience, and will support businesses to develop cycle tourism experiences as the cycle network and greenways progress in the city.

REGIONAL FOCUS: Galway City Council

A contemporary connection to the old world

“Our cities become very dull if they are not populated by artists and we have to protect this sector,” according to Megs Morley, Director and Curator of Galway Arts Centre, who sits down with Ciarán Galway and Odrán Waldron to talk about challenges faced by the sector, and what gives Galway city a unique arts scene.

Morley has been in Galway since 2005, and has worked in various roles throughout the arts sector, including freelance roles with the Irish Museum of Modern Art as a book editor and film editor. She has also held roles with the Galway City Council in the past, including as a public arts commissioner.

She assumed her current role in September 2021 and believes that the ongoing energy crisis presents a challenge “potentially on the same scale as Covid” for the sector. She further states that she hopes to “continue the work that we have been doing, creating the space for voices from all parts of the community to express their creativity, share that culture with a wider audience in Galway”.

Moving on from Covid-19

Morley, who originally hails from Mayo, believes that the Covid-19 pandemic caused problems for the arts sector economically and in terms of audience confidence.

“What we have seen is ebbs and flows of that confidence through the year; at certain points we have been quite busy but at other points there is still a hesitance to fill certain venues. This is happening right across the arts, and it is a challenge which everyone in the arts sector is facing right now.”

She continues: “The Galway Arts Centre is very much a venue-based organisation with our public galleries and our theatre. If the doors are closed, that is a pretty big challenge to overcome. Moving our work online was a challenge but also opened up creative potential for engaging with new audiences. When we did reopen the doors, we were very restricted in terms of how many people could be in a gallery at one time.

Megs Morley

“That was really challenging, and it really effects how people experience the arts. That is probably the most difficult thing, making people feel confident enough to come back and experience the arts again.”

Arts scene in Galway city

One of Galway city’s unique factors is that it is the most diverse city in Ireland, and its high student population, according to Morley.

“It is a really young city which is steeped in Irish traditions which is full of welcome. It is a really international and diverse community which is what makes Galway real cultural hub and a vibrant and interesting place to be. It attracts a lot of artists and musicians to live here. There is a real wealth of exciting artistic talent here.”

Morley further explains how the city’s diversity is reflected by the programmes and exhibitions in Galway Arts Centre and how the arts sector has championed representation of people from minority backgrounds, and that the Galway Arts Centre has been a hub for art representing people from LGBT+, immigrant, and Irish Traveller backgrounds.

Reflecting on Galway city’s proximity to the Gaeltacht and consequential connection with old Irish traditions, Morley states that she admired “artists like Ceara Conway, who is based in Galway and who draws from the sean nós tradition such as the caoineadh, but takes a contemporary approach to it that recreates it for today”.

She adds: “I think that Galway city creates that space for reimagining the traditional roots of cultures and bringing them into the contemporary moment to make them relevant for now. The Array Collective [whose Turner Prize-winning installation

The Druithaib’s Ball was shown in the Galway Arts Centre and its Nun’s Island Theatre from August-October 2022] is dynamic and interesting; they have a grá for Celtic and pre-Christian mythology and the characters from those myths, whilst adapting those characters in a contemporary way.

“Each artist from the collective has created characters and costumes that are drawn from these myths, and they use them to create performances, films, protests and events with. So you will see a lot of imagery from Celtic mythology. When you experience their immersive installation, The Druithaib’s Ball the connections to these roots are really brought into the current social and political moment.”

Morley further outlines how the arts sector is strengthened through diversity of age, and that there is “a younger generation that are really interested in maintaining the language and drawing on their heritage but in a fresh and contemporary way which I think is the key”.

She concludes: “Culture is not a museum piece; it is alive and living and it needs to be adapted for our times and for what is relevant and important now. I think that that is the same for Irish culture and all of our traditions.”

REGIONAL FOCUS: GALWAY CITY COUNCIL

Galway Convention Bureau: Supporting you in organisaing your event

Galway Convention Bureau promotes Galway as a destination for international meetings, conferences, and events and is supported by Fáilte Ireland, Galway City Council and Galway County Council, Shannon Airport, Western Development Commission, and trade memberships.

The convention bureau’s strategic partners include University of Galway, ATU Galway, Galway Chamber of Commerce, and the Galway branch of the Irish Hotel Federation. Galway Convention Bureau’s membership consists of venues, universities, hotels, retailers, transport, restaurants, pubs, activities, attractions, and airports.

In the year to date, Galway Convention Bureau and Fáilte Ireland have secured circa €7.6 million in business for Galway in MICE (Meetings, Incentive, Conference, Events) led revenue. A business visitor is worth up to three times that of the leisure tourist and meetings tend to take place outside the main summer months, which will lead to an extension of the season for the tourism sector in Galway. This has a very positive effect on the local economy in ensuring that jobs are kept in the west.

Earlier this year in July, the 11th European Solid Mechanics Conference took place at the University of Galway over five days. With over 1,200 delegates in attendance, it was the largest international conference to have ever taken place on the campus. In addition, the economic impact of the conference to the local area was almost €2 million.

The Conference Ambassador

Galway Convention Bureau is looking for people throughout Galway to become champions in bringing international conferences home to the city and county. People who might be thinking of hosting an international conference can work with Galway Convention Bureau and become a conference ambassador.

Who are our conference ambassadors?

Conference ambassadors are influential members of professional and industry associations who can influence their home country in hosting international conferences and meetings. They may have been involved in the organising of these conferences in the past or expressed interest in doing so while attending such events abroad. Ambassadors can become a spokesperson for Galway and choose to be involved as much as they like with the event, or they can leave it to the Galway Convention Bureau team who are here to help from the very beginning and ensure that the conference is a major success.

“A business visitor is worth up to three times that of the leisure tourist and meetings tend to take place outside the main summer months, which will lead to an extension of the season for the tourism sector in Galway. This has a very positive effect on the local economy in ensuring that jobs are kept in the west.”

Benefits of becoming a conference ambassador:

• free support from conferencing expert;

• recognition from your professional colleagues;

• increased profile for Galway/national association;

• enhanced reputation in your area of expertise;

• increased networking opportunities and worldwide links;

• increased revenue to local economy;

• create awareness for local tourism; and

• earn national and international recognition.

Galway Convention Bureau supports include:

• bid documentation preparation and presentation;

• guidance on financial funding through Fáilte Ireland (please note certain criteria must be met and approved) to assist with the preparation and the travel involved with bidding for an international conference. Meet in Ireland, a brand owned and operated by Fáilte Ireland, our national tourism development authority, offers a suite of financial supports to help attract corporate meetings and incentive trips to Ireland;

• independent advice on all aspects of organising an international conference;

• introduction to professional conference organisers (PCOs) who can manage the bid process for you;

• letters of invitation/endorsement to support the bid document;

• image libraries;

• award winning videos;

• sample presentations; and

• site inspection hosting.

From the initial bid to the event itself, Galway Convention Bureau and Fáilte Ireland will work hard to support our Conference Ambassadors to deliver successful conferences and provide unique experiences for your delegates.

T: 091 33 99 20

info@galwayconventionbureau.com

REGIONAL FOCUS: GALWAY CITY COUNCIL

Connecting women in business

“Having a network in business is key to your success to endure the ups and downs as part of the business journey,” says Treasa Hanniffy, president of the Galway branch of Network Ireland, who discusses her priorities in the role, improving life for women in business, and Galway city as a business destination.

Network Ireland was established in 1983 as an organisation for women in business and the workplace to network and with the aim of “promoting professional and the personal development of women in business across Ireland”. The Galway branch was established in 1990 and has over 100 members and is growing.

Galway as a business destination

Hanniffy is serving a one-year term as president of the Galway branch, which is due to expire in the coming weeks. She states that her priority upon assuming the role was engagement with her fellow members in person, especially after two challenging years.

“As we emerged from the pandemic, some members wanted support to help grow and develop their business or career journeys, more wanted connection as it can be isolating being on your own in business. A supportive community is crucial to success while also balancing your professional and personal goals.”

She states that business in Galway thrives based on the closeness of the community of the city. “Referrals are an important aspect of business in Galway. The best kind of referral has always been word of mouth. People buy and do business with people they trust or that have been highly recommended. Galway businesses prosper from networking and building these connections.”

REGIONAL

She adds: “Galway is a city of warmth, character, and resilience. No matter what business you are in, there is a tribe where you can connect, seek support, expand, and export depending on your needs. This is key in terms of growing and learning, as success is not a straight road and your tribe are a key element to growing your business locally, nationally, and globally.”

Coping with ongoing crises

Hanniffy believes that businesses are facing major challenges in the years ahead. “We are still reeling for the impact of Covid followed now by the energy crisis as costs are rising significantly. When you hear the word blackout, it is a case of either being overcome by fear or trying your best to adapt and being more energy efficient.”

Further to the ongoing crises, Hanniffy believes that Galway city has never truly recovered since the 2008 financial crash. “The city still has a long way to go in terms of recovery. We have not got a big retail unit as they have not been attracted into the city. Great work is being done on innovation and STEM, but there is room for a lot of progress culturally.”

Hanniffy does, however, give cautious optimism for navigating a course out of Galway’s problems, which she believes can act as a springboard for further recruitment going forward.

“We see a lot of impressive stuff behind the scenes, especially with the creative hubs and the collaboration with the colleges, and it helps to attract great talent. The rental market is at capacity, yes building is up, but it is mostly just for the social housing market.

“The big thing is trying to find the talent. If the rent here is the same as Dublin, there is no attraction that can be unique and enticing about Galway.”

Women succeeding in business

Whilst progress has been made, Hanniffy outlines her belief that there is still a generation of women who have been held back due to the “taboo” nature of discussion of issues unique to women and their wellbeing.

“Menopause, miscarriages, and infertility are very hard emotional journeys which women could not discuss openly but thankfully that narrative is beginning to change for the better.”

Hanniffy believes the modern businesses ad workplace orthodoxy needs to take further account of work-life balance for employees, and that an employee will be “loyal to an employer who is on their side”.

“Women need to be supported and flexibility is key to them flourishing in their roles. Remote work is a great blessing as a result of the pandemic but also beneficial due to spiralling costs of commuting and childcare costs.”

She adds: “It is not even just women; dads want to be more involved too, and remote working during Covid was a bridge to that gap which exists in a lot of families. However, today, childcare costs are going up and commuting costs are going up. A balance needs to be struck which takes account of the cost of working and the rewards that come from it.”

Speaking on mental health positivity and challenges for people running a business, she concludes: “It is not just about arriving at a destination, it is about enjoying the journey. Having a supportive network makes it all worthwhile.”

REGIONAL FOCUS: Galway City Council

Gaillimh le Gaeilge: Putting bilingualism chun cinn in Galway city

Agus iad ag déanamh cúirt ar cathair na Gaillimhe, shuí Ciarán de Gallaidhe agus Odrán de Bhaldraithe síos le Bríd Ní Chonghóile, Príomhfheidhmeannach Ghaillimh le Gaeilge, chun stádas an teanga insan cathair a phlé. Ciarán Galway and Odrán Waldron discuss the status of the Irish language in Galway city with Bríd Ní Chonghóile, CEO of Gaillimh le Gaeilge.

Bunaíodh Gaillimh le Gaeilge i 1987 faoi choimirce Chomhdháil Naisiúnta na Gaeilge le go gcoinneofaí agus go neartófaí an Ghaeilge agus chun a chinntiú go leanfadh an buntáiste mór geilleagrach don chathair a ghabhann leis an nGaeilge. Le tacaíocht ó Roinn na Gaeltachta, d’údaraigh an fiontar staidéar socheacnamaíoch a rinne Coláiste na hOllscoile, Gaillimh (Ollscoil na Gaillimhe anois), faoi céard is fiú idirghabhálacha an stáit ó thaobh na Gaeilge i limistéar na Gaillimhe. Léirigh an taighde, Tuarascáil Uí Chinnéide, gurbh £17 milliún in aghaidh na bliana do limistéir na Gaillimhe agus £13.1 milliún in aghaidh na bliana do chathair na Gaillimhe na hidirghabhálacha sin. “Go leor airgid a bhí ann ag an am sin,” a deir Ní Chonghóile

Leis an mbuntáiste seo a choinneáil i nGaillimh, chuaigh Peadar Ó Flatharta agus Pádraig Ó Beaglaoich chuig an gCumann Tráchtála chun plé a dhéanamh ar an mbealach is fearr chun an buntáiste seo a choinneáil i gcathair na Gaillimhe. Bunaíodh Coiste na Gaeilge sa Chumann Tráchtála faoi Chathaoirleach Sheosaimh Ó hÓgartaigh, fear

gnó agus Gaeilgeoir líofa a thig an gaol atá idir an chathair agus an Ghaeltacht mar aon leis na buntáistí geilleagracha, sóisialta, agus cultúrtha a d’eascair as an gaol sin.

Mar thoradh ar an tuarascáil, bunaíodh Gaillimh le Gaeilge, ó sin tá dul chun cinn déanta acu laistigh de phobal gnó na Gaillimhe chun infheictheacht na Gaeilge a ardú trí scéimeanna ar nós scéimeanna Cairde Ghaillimh le Gaeilge, an tSeirbhís Gaeilge sa Ghnó agus Gradam Sheosaimh Uí Ógartaigh, agus tá úsáid na Gaeilge ó lá go lá á cur chun cinn sa chathair. Tá obair an Choiste Logainmneacha i gcomhar le Comhairle Cathrach na Gaillimhe ar cheann de na héachtaí is infheicthe agus is mó tionchar ó thaobh na Gaeilge scríofa di.

“In 2009, rinneadh uasdátú ar Thuarascáil Uí Chinnéide Cuireadh in iúl sa taighde go raibh os cionn €136 milliún i limistéir na Gaillimhe ag teacht ón Ghaeilge agus chomh maith leis sin, cuireadh moltaí nua ar fáil chun dul i bhfeidhm tuilleadh ar an lucht gnó,” miníonn Ní Chonghóile.

“Tá an sprioc chéanna againn inniu is a bhí i 1987 ach amháin go bhfuil uirlisí difriúila agus tograí nua á úsáid againn chun an Ghaeilge a chur chun cinn. Oibríonn muid freisin chun úsáid na Gaeilge labhartha a chur chun cinn tríd ár n-imeachtaí éagsúla gnó lena n-áixrítear an Lón Gnó míosúil agus imeachtaí rialta eile.”

Tá dhá stráiteas foilsithe ag Gaillimh le Gaeilge ó bunaíodh iad, an chéad ceann in 2006. Bhain an straitéis sin go príomha le stádas dhátheangach a bhaint amach do chathair na Gaillimhe.

“Chreid muid go gcuideodh stádas dhátheangach oifigiúil le seasamh na Gaeilge sa chathair a threisiú agus go spreagfadh sé comhlachtaí nua ag teacht isteach sa chathair an Ghaeilge a úsáid,” a deir Ní Chonghóile.

Seoladh an straitéis is deanaí 2023-2025 don eagraíocht ar Oíche Chultúir 2022 mar céad chéim eile i bhforbairt Ghaillimh le Gaeilge. Tugann an straitéis aghaidh ar na dúshláin agus na deiseanna a chuireann Plean Teanga Chathair na Gaillimhe (2020-2026) rompu.

REGIONAL FOCUS: Galway City Council

I measc na dtionscnamh nua sa straitéis, tá stádas mar Bhaile Seirbhíse Gaeltachta á bhaint amach do Ghaillimh i gcomhpháirtíocht le Comhairle Cathrach na Gaillimhe.

“Tá muid ag iarraidh go mbeadh seirbhís i nGaeilge le fáil go héasca sa chathair ionas go mbeidh deis ag daoine, más rogha leo, gnó a dhéanamh trí mheán na Gaeilge.”

Tá sé beartaithe acu Lárionad Gaeilge a éascú sa chathair agus féilire d'imeachtaí Gaeilge a fhorbairt do chainteoirí líofa chomh maith leo siúd a bhfuil cúpla focal acu agus atá ag iarraidh níos mó deiseanna lena gcuid Gaeilge a chleachtadh.

“Tagann go leor do na daoine as na Gaeltachtaí mórthimpeall orainn isteach sa chathair go fóill agus déanann siad gnó sa chathair,” a deir Ní Chonghóile, arb as Ceathrú na gCloch i nGaeltacht Mhuigheo di. “Bheifeá ag siúil le haon chathair sa tír a dheireann go bhfuil sé dátheangach go mbeadh líon áirithe de chomlachtaí agus d’eagraíochtaí ag soláthair seirbhís i nGaeilge.”

“Rinne muid staidéar a choimisiúnú chun staid reatha na Gaeilge sa chathair a thomhais, bhí 53 faoin gcéad de na gnólachtaí a ghlac páirt sa

taighde go bhfuil comharthaíocht dhátheangach acu agus 67 faoin gcéad acu go n-úsáideann siad Gaeilge in ábhar scríofa a bhaineann lena ngnólacht.

“Beidh muid ag súil mar sin, agus stádas mar bhaile seirbhíse Gaeltachta bainte amach ag an gcathair, go mbeidh muid in ann a rá go bhfuil ar a laghad 50 faoin gcéad de na gnólachtaí i gcathair na Gaillimhe ag cur seirbhís i nGaeilge ar fáil.”

Switching briefly to Béarla, Ní Chonghóile explores the strength and value of the Irish language in the city and the origins of that strength:

“The Irish language is worth in excess of €136 million annually to the economy of Galway City and County €59 million of this goes to Galway City. An Taibhdhearc, Conradh na Gaeilge, Gaeil na Gaillimhe are situated in the city. We are located near the largest Gaeltacht, and we have the headquarters of Roinn na Gaeltachta, Údarás na Gaeltachta, TG4, and RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta on our doorstep.

“Also, Galway is well known as a cultural city, with a thriving traditional music scene. As part of our work, we link the Irish

language to the cultural experience one gets when they visit Galway. Tourists especially wish to have a personal authentic experience. They want to experience what is authentic about the place, and the best way to do that is through the use of the Irish language.”

Finishing up, Ní Chonghóile once again reflects on the success of the organisation thus far, attributing it to their making of a business case for the language in the city, and concludes on an optimistic note: “I am always optimistic; you need to be optimistic and proactive when trying to change people's minds. I was lucky to have been brought up in the Gaeltacht, so my experience is positive. The Irish language is a huge part of who I am. I also have a business background, so I know that in order to sell a product, you need to present it in a way that appeals and connects with the customer. We are lucky in Gaillimh le Gaeilge in that we have a very strong board, a diligent team of four, and that we have been supported over the years by our funders and the people of Galway who believe in the vision that we have for Ireland’s bilingual city.”

REGIONAL FOCUS: Galway City Council

Máire Uí Dhufaigh, Oifigeach Pleanála Teanga, Gaillimh le Gaeilge; Ciara O’Connor, Oifigeach Tograí, Gaillimh le Gaeilge; Andrew Algeo, CEO National Lottery; Caitlín Nic an Ultaigh, Stiúrthóir, Gaillimh le Gaeilge; agus Maeve Joyce Crehan, Stiúrthóir, Gaillimh le Gaeilge accepting the Irish Language category at this year’s National Lottery Good Causes Awards ceremony which took place in Killashee House Hotel in County Kildare.

Encouraging collaboration and sharing solutions

Housing report

In association with

Encouraging collaboration and sharing solutions

report

Darragh O’Brien TD: Housing priorities

emergency evictions ban, the impact of high interest rates on construction, and possible updating of the National Planning Framework.

Fourteen months on from the launch of Housing for All, what are your current priorities as Minister for Housing?

My priority is to continue delivering on Housing for All. I am a firm believer in homeownership, and Housing for All is laying the foundations for home ownership for a generation. For the plan to succeed, Housing for All’s 213 actions need to be implemented and these include new measures to support home ownership, new initiatives to tackle homelessness, reforms to overhaul our planning process and steps to bolster our local authority capacity to deliver homes. The more than €4 billion which has been dedicated annually for the delivery of 90,000 new social homes, 36,000 new affordable homes and 18,000 cost rental homes by 2030, will ensure we can meet our targets.

How has the trajectory of interest rates, combined with construction cost inflation, impacted the delivery of housing?

The Government are conscious of the significant challenges to be overcome, the double-digit inflation and persistent supply chain issues, and have taken a number of measures to alleviate this.

With respect to public housebuilding contracts, Government have introduced a framework to respond to the risk posed by exceptional levels of inflation and supply disruptions. This framework applies to public works contracts and will provide for up to a 70:30 burden sharing, i.e., the parties involved will share inflationary costs with the State bearing up to 70 per cent of the additional increase. The Framework is a pragmatic and proportionate response to the current challenges caused by inflation that are not within either the

Government’s or the contractor’s control. Project Tosaigh, which the Land Development Agency are advancing, and which aims to unlock land in private ownership that has planning permission but where delivery has stalled due to financing and other constraints, has a pipeline of projects anticipated to deliver circa 1,000 affordable for sale and cost rental homes. The Government have also launched the Croí Conaithe Cities fund which aims to bridge the current viability gap between the cost of building apartments and the market sale price. The apartments will then be sold to owner occupiers.

What impact will Budget 2023 have on the housing delivery?

Budget 2023 provides for an historic €4.5 billion capital investment to underpin Housing for All and deliver the largest State homebuilding programme ever. €1.3 billion will be invested in

Encouraging collaboration and sharing solutions

affordability measures in 2023 which further demonstrates the serious desire this Government has to increase the rates of homeownership. The budget which we have sends a strong signal to the sector that the State is the single largest actor in housing and gives them the confidence to continue to invest in homebuilding also.

According to Census 2022, over 166,000 homes across the State were recorded as vacant. How can these be brought into circulation as quickly as possible?

Housing for All sets out a blueprint to address vacancy. We have started rolling out grants of up to €50,000 to buy and refurbish empty and derelict homes in rural areas, towns and villages and city centres. In four short weeks of August 2022, we received more than 200 applications. There is a real desire among people to take on those properties and to tackle vacancy. In 2023, the Government is also introducing a Vacant Property Tax and I believe by using both ‘carrot and stick’ we can get to grips with residential vacancy once and for all.

In light of Census 2022 data, should the National Planning Framework be updated to ensure that sufficient land is zoned for residential use?

The National Planning Framework (NPF) is being reviewed, as is standard following the publication of new data. The review will inform updated baseline assumptions for population and housing projections. These will be used as the basis for updated national and local policy. It is important to note that there is already capacity for well over 100,000 new homes in Dublin alone, which requires land activation measures and infrastructural investment, rather than more zoning in surrounding counties. That is why we are taking radical steps such as introducing the new Zoned Land Tax and the new Land Value Sharing mechanisms as well as other activation measures.

What was the Government’s thinking on implementing the emergency evictions ban?

The increasing pressure on homeless services, the limited supply in the rental market and the struggles people are facing over the coming winter months are all a serious concern. In response to this, the Government decided to legislate for a temporary stay on

tenancy terminations this winter. The Residential Tenancies (Deferment of Termination Dates of Certain Tenancies)

Bill 2022 will defer ‘no fault’ tenancy terminations that are due to occur during the coming winter months from taking effect until after 31 March 2023.

Any tenant who wilfully withholds payment of rent or who engages in criminal or anti-social behaviour will not receive the protections of this moratorium. We were at all times conscious that restricting property rights could be the subject of a legal challenge and that is why such rigorous consultation with the Attorney General has taken place. We believe that this time-bound necessary measure is constitutionally sound.

What are your ambitions for housing delivery by the end of 2022?

By the end of 2022, I want us to have delivered our targets across all tenures, in particular social and affordable housing. I am confident that the overall target of 24,600 new build homes will be delivered in 2022 and keeping, and indeed building on, the pace of delivery will be very important as we enter into 2023. When I talk of the delivery of housing, I am very conscious that I am speaking about a safe, secure, home for life for some individual or a family and my ambition for housing delivery by the end of 2022 is that more of our people who need a home are able to get one. I know and I can see that things are moving but people need to see that, people need to see the delivery and how it will impact them and their lives.

“The Residential Tenancies (Deferment of Termination Dates of Certain Tenancies) Bill 2022 will defer ‘no fault’ tenancy terminations that are due to occur during the coming winter months from taking effect until after 31 March 2023… We believe that this time-bound necessary measure is constitutionally sound.”

Encouraging collaboration and sharing solutions

Policy Insights Series shares lessons from innovative practices to housing issues

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How have stakeholders working to tackle homelessness in the south-east region delivered more effective, integrated services? How have housing associations and tenants come together to build structures and cultures for tenant engagement? These are some of the questions dealt with to date by The Housing Agency’s Policy Insights Series, write Alex Dowdall, Policy Officer, and Roslyn Molloy, Head of Policy and Practice.

The answers to these questions are to be found in collaboration – an approach which is at the heart of The Housing Agency’s work. The Housing Agency works closely with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, local authorities, and approved housing bodies in the delivery of housing and housing services. Our vision is to achieve an integrated housing system, meeting the nation’s housing needs and promoting sustainable communities. We do this by providing evidence-based housing insights and data to inform thinking and policymaking; by working with others to deliver housing solutions; and by equipping our stakeholders with the capacity to respond quickly and effectively to challenges in the housing system.

With these objectives in mind, in 2022 The Housing Agency’s Policy Insights Series was launched. The aim of this new series is to provide the Irish housing sector with short case studies which highlight good practice in housing and innovative solutions to problems. The Policy Insights Series shares these examples so that housing providers can learn from each other and work collaboratively to deliver housing.

1. The South-East Region covers Waterford, Carlow, Kilkenny, Tipperary and Wexford.

Alex Dowdall

Roslyn Molloy

Policy Insights Paper: Improving Homelessness Services: A Case Study from the South-East Region

Encouraging collaboration and sharing solutions

Improving homelessness services

The first issue in the series explored the case study of the south-east region to show how local authorities have collaborated to improve homelessness services. The paper describes the changes introduced since 2018 in the south-east region which have resulted in local authorities, homelessness service providers, the HSE, and other stakeholders working together to provide a more effective, integrated service. The changes introduced were in response to a rise in homelessness, including family homelessness, experienced in the region during the late 2010s, peaking in 2018. Alongside this was increasing evidence that B&Bs, the primary form of accommodation used for those presenting as homeless, were not suitable.

To address these issues, in 2018 the south-east region commenced a systematic review of its homelessness services conducted in collaboration between the local authority, the HSE, and relevant homelessness service providers. This led to a number of significant changes in the region’s structures, including the creation of a new, dedicated Homeless Lead role; the formation of the Waterford Integrated Homeless Service; the appointment of a Homeless Coordinator in each local authority; restructuring the Homeless Strategic Management Group to include directors of service, and the introduction of a Care and Case Management Support Framework. The paper describes how these structural changes were implemented, before detailing the most significant outcomes to arise from these changes. The restructuring created a highly effective and collaborative Strategic Management Group and helped build strong relationships with local stakeholders including service providers, estate agents, the HSE, and approved housing bodies. The review and restructure also saw the introduction of new innovative, collaborative programmes including the Waterford Emergency Family Service (WEFS). The WEFS was introduced as an alternative to B&B accommodation and involved hard-to-let local authority social housing units being allocated to homeless families in need of emergency accommodation. To date, 20 family and seven single accommodation units have been allocated to the project.

Source:

The paper demonstrates the positive impacts of collaborative working to deliver structural reforms to homeless service provision. These structural changes resulted in more than 50 per cent of those presenting as homeless being redirected from entering emergency accommodation. It concludes by drawing a number of lessons to be considered by other local authorities. These include benefits of a dedicated Homeless Lead role; establishing clear processes and regional homeless structures, including the involvement of senior management; and developing strong working relationships between health services, homeless service providers, AHBs, letting agents, and other key stakeholders.

Building tenant engagement structures and cultures

In its second issue, the series examined how housing providers and tenants have come together to build effective cultures and structures of tenant engagement. Using the case of Circle VHA, it describes how a housing provider and its tenants have collaborated to develop a structural approach that embeds tenant engagement policy and practice within the organisation’s strategic vision. It outlines the benefits that accrue to both tenants and housing providers from such an approach. In 2022, the Approved Housing Bodies Regulatory Authority (AHBRA) published new standards requiring AHBs to actively seek input from tenants and provide opportunities for engagement on

service provision. The aim of the case study is therefore to provide information to other social housing providers seeking to develop tenant engagement structures.

Circle VHA began the process of building a tenant engagement structure when they met with representatives from Supporting Communities, Northern Ireland’s independent tenant and community engagement champion, in 2019. This collaboration built a foundation for developing and implementing a tenant engagement structure and strategy. The paper describes the incremental approach that was adopted, and which began with planning, consultation, and training. This included forming a Tenant Steering Group to drive tenant involvement in the process and introducing organisation-wide tenant engagement training for all Circle VHA staff. The next stage was to embed tenant engagement within Circle VHA’s structures, specifically through the formation of a Tenant Advisory Group. This group has a formal position within Circle’s structure, and regularly meets with management, board, Chair and CEO to provide feedback and oversee tenant-related policies, procedures, and publications. The Tenant Advisory Group also led the third stage of the process – drafting a tenant engagement strategy. This strategy, written by tenants, sets out a menu of tenant engagement opportunities to be pursued by Circle VHA in the period 2021-2024, the most ambitious of which is to introduce a process to enable tenant representation on Circle VHA’s board. The final stage of the

Figure 1: Numbers of individuals in emergency accommodation in the south-east

process involved the allocation of sufficient resources to tenant engagement, including the hiring of a dedicated tenant engagement officer, with tenants involved in all stages of the hiring process.

The paper demonstrates the positive impacts and measurable outcomes attributable to this new tenant engagement structure, including meeting over 90 per cent of the targets outlined in Tenant Engagement Strategy’s Year 1 Action Plan, the delivery of organisation-wide training to all Circle VHA staff, and the improvement of tenant satisfaction scores over the period in which the tenant engagement strategy was implemented (Figure 2). A number of lessons for other housing providers are identified, ranging from the importance of senior management support from the beginning, to embracing technology and online resources, supporting tenants themselves to become leaders of the project, and the role of outside organisations in building trust and furthering the collaborative approach.

Future issues

The Housing Agency’s Policy Insights Series will continue to identify good

practice in housing, promote collaborative working, and share innovative solutions to housing problems. The third issue in the series, due to be released shortly will consider how local authorities have learned from each other to drive quality asset management procedures. Ideas and case studies for future issues, to be published at regular intervals, are actively sought by The Housing Agency. Those who would like to share their case studies of innovative housing solutions should contact communications@housingagency.ie.

Launch of Circle VHA Tenant Engagement Strategy.

collaboration and sharing solutions

Housing statistics

Encouraging collaboration and sharing solutions

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Housing Commission: In profile

The Housing Commission held its first meeting in January 2022, having been established under Housing for All. It will take a long-term strategic view on the policies being pursued under the plan and will roll out the timeline for a future referendum on a right to housing. The Commission is made up of 12 members, all of whom are experts in the housing sector.

John O’Connor (Chair) is the former CEO of The Housing Agency.

Previous roles include Chief Executive of the Affordable Homes Partnership, and Executive Manager of the Housing and Communities Department in Dublin City Council. He worked in the construction industry before moving to local government and is a chartered engineer. .

Pat Doyle has been the CEO of the Peter McVerry Trust since 2005. He is also the president of the Irish Council for Social Housing, where he is serving his second consecutive term for the period 2021-2024. Doyle holds a higher diploma and a master’s in education and has over 30 years’ experience in the community and voluntary sector, working on social inclusion, managing a range of initiatives aimed at reducing risks of homelessness, addiction, and working with people in care settings.

Sorcha Edwards has been General Secretary of Housing of Europe, the European Federation of Public, Cooperative and Social Housing since 2014. Edwards leads the team and coordinates the network aiming at better regulation, better knowledge, and better finance for housing.

Encouraging collaboration and sharing solutions

Paddy Gray is Professor Emeritus in housing at Ulster University and has a wide range of publications on housing policy and practice. In 2010, he was appointed the first and only Irish president of the Chartered Institute of Housing. He is chair and a board member of a number of housing organisations across the UK and Ireland including the Wheatley Group, Glasgow HA, and Tuath.

Patricia King is the general secretary of ICTU. She is a former vicepresident of SIPTU and served as one of two vicepresidents of ICTU. She played a leading role in the Irish Ferries dispute between 2005 and 2006, and in subsequent negotiations that saw an overhaul of employment rights law and the establishment of the National Employment Rights Authority (NERA). King currently serves on the boards of the Apprenticeship Council, Court Services Board, and the Climate Change Advisory Council.

Ronan Lyons is an Associate Professor in Economics at Trinity College Dublin, where he is also Director of Trinity Research in Social Sciences. His research focuses on housing markets, urban economics, and economic history. His doctorate at Oxford was on Ireland’s housing market boom and bust of the early 21st century. He is a consultant to the IMF on residential property prices, a frequent contributor to national and international media on Irish housing and the broader economy and the author of the quarterly Daft.ie reports on the Irish housing market.

Kathryn Meghen is the CEO of the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland. As CEO, she oversees the development and implementation of RIAI policies and services to support the members and deliver the RIAI Strategy. She is on the editorial board of Architectural Ireland, House and Design Magazine, and the RIAI annual review: Irish Architecture Meghan was on the editorial board for the RIAI and Department of Housing’s publications New Housing and New Housing 2.

Michelle Norris is Professor of Social Policy and Director of the Geary Institute for Public Policy at University College Dublin. She has led over 30 research projects on housing policy and urban generation and produced 200 publications on the results. She has strong links with policymakers in Ireland and internationally. In 2011 and 2016, she was appointed as a member of the National Economic and Social Council and has served on the board of the Land Development Agency. Between 2012 and 2021, she chaired the board of the Housing Finance Agency. In 2021, she was one of three lead authors of Housing 2030 on how policymakers improve affordable housing outcomes.

David O’Connor was an architect for 27 years, becoming the Fingal County Architect in 1995, until being appointed to a senior local authority management post in charge of Planning and Development in 2003. He was appointed chief executive of Fingal County Council for the period 2006 to 2013. Later, O’Connor served for one year as director of the office dedicated to delivery of Rebuilding Ireland. He has acted as part of the Review Group of the operation of the Strategic Housing Development initiative.

Michael O'Flynn is the Chairman and CEO of the O’Flynn Group. Established in 1978 as a house building company, it has progressed into one of the largest property development companies in Ireland. He has expertise in property backed operating businesses such as student accommodation, is a founding member of Property Industry Ireland, and is former chairman of the Cork branch of the Construction Industry Federation.

Brian

O’Gorman has led Clúid Housing, one of the leading approved housing bodies in Ireland, for over 25 years.

During this time, he has grown Clúid’s property portfolio to over 9,000 homes. He is a former president of the Irish Council for Social Housing, a founding member of the Housing Alliance, and served on Dublin City Council’s strategic policy committee on housing for eight years. He holds a BA in philosophy from University College Dublin and an MSc in business from University College Cork.

Ailbhe O’Neill

is a barrister specialising in the areas of constitutional and regulatory law. She was the legal advisor to the Referendum Commissions established for the 30th Amendment of the Constitution (adoption of the Fiscal Stability Treaty) and the 33rd Amendment (creation of a Court of Appeal) and to the Nyberg Commission of Investigation. An assistant professor in the School of Law at Trinity College Dublin, her lecturing and research interests focus on property rights and regulation and she has published domestically and internationally in these fields.

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Respond: Continuous improvement

Respond CEO Declan Dunne outlines the organisation’s new Strategic Plan, raising the ambitions of social and affordable housing delivery and responding to increased challenges to people in need through their services.

Respond began work as a social housing provider (Approved Housing Body) but recognised early on that housing does not exist in isolation but as part of a wider community. They now provide family homeless services, early learning and school-age care, refugee resettlement services, daycare for older people and family support services alongside their work as an Approved Housing Body, delivering homes and services all around the country.

Respond currently have 1,422 homes in construction. In the last two years, the world has changed considerably. In acknowledgement, Respond undertook a mid-term review of their Strategic Plan 2019-2023 to ensure they remain agile in responding to the changing external environment and have published an updated plan covering the period from 2022 to 2024.

Respond, a listening and learning organisation, have several programmes of continuous improvement that work across the organisation. They are partnering with the Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI) in Trinity College, collaborating to enhance the brain health of tenants, service users and staff. The housing team, who work with tenants and manage Respond homes, has been working with the Centre for Effective Services (CES) to redesign how Respond deliver services to tenants. This work will create a new way of working to ensure the organisation is delivering consistent, focused services to all tenants where needs vary greatly. The [property] development team is creating a new evidence-informed design guide that will to support the continued delivery of high quality housing.

Declan Dunne, CEO of Respond, says the organisation is very aware that they are producing this Strategic Plan at a time when uncertainties and risks abound.

“Building on our years of achievement and experience, we are setting out the direction in which we want to go and where we will be focusing our efforts. We realise that the implementation of the strategies we have set out will be challenging but we are encouraged by the unprecedented recognition given to the role of the AHB sector by the Government’s Housing for All plan and the commitment to multiannual capital budgets for housing provision.

“We also welcome the increased resources and reforms in the childcare sector which will improve the life chances of many children across society.

“Our plan originally included the ambitious target of providing 2,500 homes from 2019 to 2023.

The Board has agreed that we should work to increase this target to deliver up to 1,000 social homes and 250 cost rental home by 2024. We are strongly committed to increasing the national housing stock through direct construction.

“An important goal in the strategic plan is to provide housing for the large segment of the population for whom the marketplace is too expensive and who do not qualify for social housing. We are pleased to be giving leadership in the provision of affordable, cost rental homes and will continue to work with government to ensure we have a financially sustainable model for this tenure type into the future.”

Dunne says implementation of the Strategic Plan will adapt the successful approach used to date to capture learnings: “The focus will be on turning the goals and strategies into actions to achieve desired outcomes and identifying key roles, responsibilities, and interdependencies.

“Respond’s raison d’être is to support people who are in need. We are determined to do everything we can, in terms of resources and competencies, be it in relation to housing, childcare or other services and that is exactly what this Strategic Plan supports us to do.”

• Goal 1 – Building social housing: Respond will aim to deliver up to 1,000 new social homes each year with support from government and partners.

• Goal 2 – Tenants at the centre of our work: In seeking to improve lives, Respond will place tenants at the centre of our work, focusing on proactive tenant engagement, tenancy management and asset management to improve positive outcomes and tenant satisfaction.

• Goal 3 – Homeless services: Respond will work to prevent and ease homelessness and to support families and individuals who are homeless on their path back to independent living through the provision of emergency accommodation with 24/7 wrap around support.

• Goal 4 – Services in the community: Respond will provide high quality services in the heart of the community, including family support, early learning and school age care, daycare for older people and refugee resettlement services. We will work with partners to ensure the future provision of services that address identified need.

• Goal 5 – Affordable cost rental: Respond will aim to deliver up to 250 affordable cost rental homes annually for those for whom the market rents are too high.

• Goal 6 – Financial sustainability: Respond will maintain a sufficient level of financial health to grow, develop and sustain our planned housing and other services and activities.

• Goal 7 – Organisational excellence and accountability: In pursuit of social justice, Respond will be a high performing, compliant, results driven and accountable organisation that values our staff and those we work with.

• Goal 8 – Advocates for change: Respond will be an effective voice with, and for, people in housing need, people who are homeless and those using our services in the community to effect positive change.

Housing statistics

Length of time on social housing waiting lists

59,247 households on social housing waiting lists in 2021 – down 4.3% compared with 2020

More than seven years 16,188 27.3%

Between five and seven years 5,974 10.1%

Between four and five years 4,050 6.8%

Between three and four years 5,604 9.5%

Between two and three years 7,353 12.4%

Between one and two years 8,663 14.6%

Between six and 12 months 6,272 10.6%

Less than six months 5,143 8.7%

Source: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage

Homelessness

homeless adults in the State 4,854 (64%) male 2,731 (36%) female 1,274 (17%) aged 18-24 4,078 (54%) aged 25-44 2,069 (27%) aged 45-64 164 (2%) aged 65 and above 3,220 homeless children in the State

Source: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage

House and rent prices

Median

Median

Median

National

Dublin

Source:

Monitoring and oversight of AHBs commences

powers and functions. This means AHBRA now has the ability to monitor and assess AHBs and carry out investigations into the affairs of AHBs, where it is considered appropriate.

AHBRA’s regulatory functions

This signals a shift from the establishment and development phase of AHBRA, as an independent regulatory body, to a more ‘business-as-usual’ model of regulatory oversight, which includes the introduction of our approach for the monitoring and assessment of AHBs.

All of AHBRA’s activities are rooted firmly in our functions, powers and strategic objectives as outlined in the Statement of Strategy 2021-2024:

• reliable and efficient AHB Registration Framework;

• proportionate standards and compliance frameworks;

Since the establishment of the Approved Housing Bodies Regulatory Authority (AHBRA) in February 2021, there has been a substantial amount of work undertaken in the formation of our organisational structures and processes. The creation of the new statutory body marks an important change in how the AHB sector is regulated, writes Steven Sheridan, AHBRA Head of Communications and Performance.

For such a significant change to be successful it was important that AHBRA’s powers and functions were introduced on a phased basis. Primarily this was to allow AHBRA to build an effective organisation from the ground up, including the development of an appropriate regulatory framework.

Crucially, it provided AHBs time to fully

understand the requirements as laid out in the Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Act 2019 and to prepare for the introduction of statutory regulation.

In early July 2022, Minister for Housing Local Government and Heritage Darragh O’Brien signed the commencement order providing AHBRA with its remaining

• consistent and effective communication with our stakeholders;

• transparent and consistent risk-based regulation; and

• an agile, flexible, and accountable organisation.

Regulatory framework

AHBRA’s regulatory framework sets out our overall approach to the oversight of AHBs. It includes the registration of AHBs, the Standards for AHBs, monitoring and assessing compliance, education and guidance, promotion and awareness of the Act, and the collection and publication of information, as appropriate.

This will evolve over time as we gather information and data from registered AHBs and use this to identify and evaluate risk trends. This will enable informed decision-making on the application of our regulatory functions, including our monitoring and assessment frameworks.

Steven Sheridan

The Register of AHBs

On 1 January 2022, all organisations that held AHB status and were listed on the register maintained by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (DHLGH) were deemed to be registered with AHBRA in line with Section 34 of the Act. All deemed AHBs are subject to the Act.

Currently, there are 450 organisations listed on the AHB Register which can be found on the AHBRA website.

The Standards for AHBs

In February 2022, we published the Standards for AHBs, which are an integral part of AHBRA’s overall regulatory framework.

The standards encompass:

• the governance of AHBs;

• the financial management of and financial reporting by AHBs;

• property and asset management by AHBs; and

• tenancy management by AHBs.

The Standards for AHBs were developed with input from the AHB sector and a wide range of key stakeholders. They establish a set of outcomes that AHBs are required to achieve. These outcome-based standards allow for greater flexibility and are a recognition of the diversity within the sector. Additionally, we have published a suite of guidance documents to support the standards. These aim to help AHBs better understand the standards and provide useful advice on how organisations can demonstrate compliance.

The Standards for AHBs do not stand alone, they form an integral part of the overall regulatory approach and the application of risk-based regulation.

Monitoring and assessment of AHBs

AHBRA recently launched its Annual Monitoring and pilot assessment programmes for 2022. This incorporates a risk-based approach to regulation which ensures that AHBRA’s regulatory approach is appropriate, measured, and proportionate.

AHBs are requested to submit a range of data and information relating to their

organisation’s activities. The information and data captured will be used by AHBRA to consolidate sector wide information, identify risk trends, influence educational and guidance programmes, and inform our assessment programme(s).

AHBRA is currently conducting a pilot assessment programme involving a small number of AHBs who were selected to take part. The pilot programme is a vital component in the development of AHBRA’s overall assessment framework, allowing AHBRA the opportunity to test and evaluate the effectiveness of its internal policies and procedures, and to receive constructive feedback from those AHBs involved. We will launch the formal assessment programme in 2023.

AHBRA published its notifiable events guidance in May 2022. All AHBs are required to inform AHBRA of changes or events which may have a serious or significant impact on their organisation. These are known as notifiable events and more information relating to such events are outlined on the AHBRA website.

In summary

Statutory regulation and oversight of the AHB sector is now firmly underway. The changes being affected by AHBRA, as we implement the regulatory framework, will require increased awareness and understanding by all AHBs. This will enable organisations to demonstrate and evidence compliance with the Standards for AHBs.

The annual monitoring, assessment programme, and the notifiable events process are all examples of the new responsibilities for AHBs, as we begin to embed our regulatory functions in the new statutory environment. AHBs should continue to ensure they engage with the regulatory framework, participate in the educational and guidance webinars conducted by AHBRA and utilise all published advice and guidance.

E: info@ahbregulator.ie communications@ahbregulator.ie W: www.ahbregulator.ie

“Statutory regulation and oversight of the AHB sector is now firmly underway.”

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Housing for All ‘on track’ for 2022 targets

With 17,000 new homes having been delivered since the official beginning of the Housing for All programme in September 2021, the Government’s Q2 2022 progress report for the programme states that it is “on track to deliver the 2022 target of 24,600 new homes”, although only 53 per cent of measures due for the quarter were fully delivered.

Of the 213 actions due for implementation under the Housing for All plan, 156 of these have been delivered or progressed, with a total of 30 measures due for delivery in Q2 2022. However, 16 of these, 53 per cent, were delivered on schedule, leaving 14 measures delayed, although the Government notes in its progress report that “significant progress has been made on the majority of these”. This marks a fall in the rate of delivery for the quarter when compared to Q1 2022, when 13 out of 20 measures due for delivery, 60 per cent, were delivered. It must be noted that of the 30 measures due for completion, 12 of these had been carried over from previous quarters in which their implementation was not achieved, with quarters three and four of 2021 having had delivery rates of 91 per cent and 68 per cent respectively.

Among the actions that have been delayed in Q2 2022 are:

• the provision of additional resources to the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) in order to make trained RTB facilitators available to intervene at the early stages of disputes, initially due in Q2 2022, now revised to Q4 2022;

• the preparation and publication of standards guidelines for the development and refurbishment of emergency accommodation, initially due for Q2 2022, now revised to Q3 2022;

and sharing solutions

Delivery of Housing for All actions by quarter

• the provision of support to the Dublin Region Homeless Executive to pilot a scheme to convert local authority and AHB-owned emergency accommodation into own-door permanent social housing, initially due for Q2 2022, now revised to Q4 2022;

• the finalisation of a health care model for people experiencing homelessness, initially due for Q2 2022, now revised to Q3 2022;

• legislation for the increase of borrowing capacity of the Housing Finance Agency to €12 billion, initially due for Q2 2022, now revised to Q4 2022; and

• the retrofitting of 2,400 social homes, initially due for Q4 2021, now revised to Q4 2022.

Among the highlights of successful implementation pointed to by the Government is the launch of the €50 million Croí Cónaithe (Towns) Fund that “will support bringing vacant and underused buildings in our towns and villages back into residential use”. The fund will be delivered through local authorities who will provide grant support to those seeking to turn a formerly vacant house or building into a permanent home, “furthering the aim to create town centres that function as viable, vibrant and attractive locations for people to live, work, and visit”. Originally intended for launch in Q4 2021, the scheme will provide grants of up to €30,000 will be available for refurbishment of the building, which will include the conversion of buildings that were not previously used as homes. A further maximum top-up grant of €20,000 will be available for buildings that are derelict.

A further highlight pointed to by government is the establishment of the First Home Shared Equity Scheme, an “affordability measure” that will allow “approximately 8,000 households to bridge an existing affordability gap by providing buyers with part of the purchase price for their home, in return for the scheme taking an equity stake in the purchased home”. The €400 million scheme is being supported by the Government and participating mortgage lenders, with the maximum stake the scheme will take in a given home to be 30 per cent, or 20 per cent if the buyer avails of the Government’s Help to Buy incentive.

Housing delivery

The progress report also includes details of new housing completions, with it said that 17,000 homes have been delivered since the launch of Housing for All in Q3 2021. The plan aims for the delivery of 312,750 homes between 2022 and 2030, an average of 33,000 homes per year. As 2022 is the first year of the plan and Ireland is still recovering from the record low numbers of houses constructed per annum seen in the 2010s, the target for 2022 is a total of 24,600 homes.

To this end, Q1 2022 saw the completion of 5,669 homes, the commencement of 6,977 homes and planning permissions for a further 8,463 homes were granted. The completion figures show a 44.5 per cent increase from the 3,923 homes that were completed in Q1

Encouraging collaboration and sharing solutions

housing report

Housing completions by

quarter,

0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000 7,000 8,000 9,000

Single house Scheme house Apartment All house types

2021, although this comparison must of course be caveated with mention of the fact that Covid-19 restrictions were still in place in 2021. The figures are also, however, a 15.1 per cent increase on Q1 2020, the last pre-pandemic quarter where construction was unaffected. 1,109 new social homes were among those delivered in Q1 2022, including 639 new builds.

“According to analysis carried out”, the report states that Housing for All’s delivery targets for 2022 “will be met”. While a simple multiplication of Q1 completion data obviously brings up a figure short of 24,600, two things need to be borne in mind: delivery under Housing for All does not only include the provision of new builds, although this is the bulk of delivery, but also the acquisition of existing housing and the provision of it through social housing, and Central Statistics Office (CSO) data shows a clear pre-Covid trend of Q1 recording the lowest completion total of the year. Every year in the period 2013-2019 saw Q1 record the lowest total of completions in its given year, a trend returned to in 2021, although again this must be caveated with the acknowledgment of Covid restrictions in that particular quarter.

CSO data for completions in 2022 differs slightly from the Housing for All progress report, with total new home completions in Q1 2022 recorded as 5,662 rather than 5,669. However, in keeping with government predictions and with the

aforementioned trend of the ramping up of construction volume throughout the year, the CSO’s completions data for Q2 2022 shows a total of 7,654 homes, a 35 per cent quarterly increase and a 53 per cent year-on-year increase from Q2 2021.

CSO data also shows an annual increase of 2 per cent in the total number of dwellings granted planning permission in Q2 2022, a total of 11,374 units, comprising of 60 per cent apartments. However, worryingly, the CSO’s Build and Construction Index found output to be down 4.5 per cent in Q2 2022 on a quarterly basis, although it had still increased by 3.2 per cent on an annual basis. The residential building sector recorded a quarterly decline of 2.9 per cent in its seasonally adjusted output, and a 15.2 annual increase.

Housing for All is a plan that seeks to address not only Ireland’s housing provision crisis, but also its housing price crisis, and on that basis the CSO’s data for July 2022 will have made for grim reading for the Government: July 2022 saw the Residential Property Price Index exceed its peak value recorded in April 2007 by 0.8 per cent, with the median price for a residential price recorded at €295,000.

While the Government’s predictions are most likely accurate in that the 2022 targets for Housing for All will be reached, the figures tell the other side of the story: there is much still to be done.

and sharing solutions

Planning permissions continue to rise but unused permissions a challenge

As Ireland still battles to make up the ground in housing supply after years of underactivity, the number of planning permissions granted rose in Q2 2022, although concern abounds surrounding the estimated 70,000 to 80,000 residential units with permission that have not yet commenced construction.

While Ireland’s planning permission system is often portrayed as cumbersome and a barrier towards the development of the volume of residential units needed to address Ireland’s housing crisis, figures provided by the Government suggest that a more pressing issue is a widespread failure to commence construction on units for which permission has already been granted.

The Government’s Housing Supply Clearing House Measure document, published in June 2022, states that there is an estimated 70,000 to 80,000 residential units with planning permission in the State that have not yet commenced, including 40,000 in Dublin, equivalent to four years of housing supply in the city. A key focus within Housing for All, the document states, is thus “to ensure that these permissions are activated as quickly as possible and this requires tackling barriers to development, including the question of viability which has been observed to be one of the key issues holding up apartment development”.

Central to concerns around the development of apartments has been rapidly inflating costs, specifically of materials, that were inflating before Covid-19 and the Russian invasion of Ukraine but have since been exacerbated by both. A study by consultants Mitchell McDermott, published in March 2022, estimated the cost of construction of a mid-range two-bed apartment to now stand at €219,000, rising to €440,000 when all costs are taken into account, a 14 per cent rise since 2020. The report predicted the price to rise by a further 3 per cent, €6,000, in 2022.

Recent figures released by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage showed that 29,343 commencement notices had been received between the beginning of July 2021 and the end of June 2022, a 7.6 per cent increase on the period of July 2020 to June 2021.

The latest planning permissions for dwelling units data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) for the second quarter of 2022 also show an

increase, albeit a less pronounced one. The number of permissions granted in Q2 2022 (11,374) showed a 2 per cent increase from the same quarter in 2021, although complaints about the difficulty of developing apartments are possibly being borne out in the numbers, with a 5.8 per cent decrease recorded in the apartment permissions approved in Q2 2022, a decrease that is made up for by a 16.6 per cent increase in house permissions.

The accumulated data for the first six months of 2022 show the same trend, with house permissions rising by 32.2 per cent, but apartment permissions falling by 4.7 per cent, meaning a total rise in dwelling permissions of 9.5 per cent. Previous criticisms of Irish housing have centred on an oversupply of houses and undersupply of apartments to suit a population that is now single for longer, living in cities in larger proportions, and having smaller families. For those attempting to address this long-standing issue, these numbers will come as a worry.

Making social housing stock more energy efficient and cost effective for Fingal residents

provide energy efficient heating systems.

Over a four-month period in that first pilot phase, we successfully managed to retrofit the 65 council properties we had been allocated funding for, moving their BER rating to a B2 or higher level. That not only makes them much warmer and healthier for residents, but also helps reduce their energy usage and costs.

Orla Harte, Chief Architectural Technician at Fingal and the project lead on the Retrofit Programme explains: “This is a 10-year programme that will see us upgrade some 25 per cent of our housing stock to a B2 BER standard. As part of that we are carrying out a variety of works to each home in order to achieve that higher rating. Some of these could include triple-glazed windows, LED lighting, rewiring, external doors, PV panels on roofs, installation of heat pumps, an upgrade of external wall and attic insulation, and the upgrade of heating controls. Importantly, this work is all carried out with residents still living in their homes.”

War in Ukraine, growing inflation and an energy crisis were taking hold, pushing households from one challenge to another and bringing financial stress and unease as people looked at rising bills, including those from heating their homes.

Among the much-needed packages to help reduce the impact of higher prices being felt announced in the Budget this month, the increased funding to help improve the energy efficiency of more houses across the country is a welcome commitment. Whilst the more immediate short-term measures such as electricity credits and a fuel allowance payment boost will help those in need, it is the desire to seek a solution in the long run

which we are especially keen to help progress further, particularly where there is a focus on supporting residential retrofits.

The decision to continue a countrywide retrofitting programme of this magnitude is to be commended. It is a tangible intervention that can help tackle several key underlying problems, including improving the energy efficiency of housing stock. Fingal County Council happily stepped up under last year’s pilot programme which has tapped into the significant level of central funding available that allows local authorities like ourselves to focus on upgrading our stock with energy efficient measures and

The council teams involved and our contractors doing the actual retrofitting work learnt much during the 2021 pilot and this has been helpful as we have gone about delivery of our 2022 targets. Whilst we had been allocated funding for retrofitting 81 homes, given the nature of the approach we have taken we have managed to complete in the region of 100 properties. With the availability of additional funding to progress the rollout further in 2023, we hope to be in a position to carry out energy upgrade works to some 200 homes across the county.

Fingal’s Director of Housing, Robert Burns, says: “The Government’s ongoing commitment to prioritising retrofit works in housing stock means we are able to make some big gains, both environmentally and financially. We are taking a whole-house approach rather than doing this in a piecemeal way, which

After nearly two years of upheaval in the world had seemingly come to an end, no one could have predicted that 2022 would quickly usher in new economic turmoil and an unpredictable future for many.

allows us to deliver a long-term investment that not only improves the energy efficiency of older homes but also helps residents reduce their energy bills at a time when many are feeling the pinch.

“This really is positive undertaking, and we want to start scaling up significantly moving forward, especially given how the Council’s teams have been able to establish an approach that can smoothly roll out from one allocated site to the next. In doing so, we have worked with tenants, contractors, and project partners in a collaborative way to help remove barriers and achieve meaningful progress as we carried out delivery of the programme. Striving to continuously improve our approach is something which we believe will help streamline the delivery, not only in Fingal, but nationally.”

Along with improving overall comfort levels for households and easing some of the angst when it comes to prioritising what their money goes towards, energy efficiency remains at the core of what we are delivering. That includes making homes less draughty, easier and more efficient to heat, and using renewable technology such as PVs to reduce the strain on existing services.

In the majority of upgrades we have done, that has meant ensuring that heat loss has been addressed. Estimates suggest that in winter a poorly insulated home could potentially lose up to 35 per cent of its internal warmth through the ceilings, another 25 per cent through the walls and up to 20 per cent through the floor and windows. With such a waste of heat from these, insulation and draughtproofing were a clear priority. So, in addition to the installation of low-energy loss front doors and triple glazed windows in a large number of homes in our retrofit programme, a great effort was put towards adding insulation. While this can be an expensive task to undertake in existing buildings, we felt that the longterm benefit for households – and ultimately the Council – significantly outweighed any short-term cost.

Where upgrades to the building fabric are a vital – but unseen – measure, it is the more noticeable additions such as roofs with integrated solar panels or air-source heat pumps which many will associate with the retrofit rollout. Heat pumps are now a common sight thanks to legislation around new builds, and as they are a proven technology that work exceptionally well, the economic viability

of installing these is unquestionable.

Mayor of Fingal, Howard Mahony, believes what has been achieved recently is a positive step forward and hopes that the programme can kick-on. He says: “Transforming public housing stock so that it is helping reduce emissions is a challenge that Fingal has readily embraced. In doing so, we are not only helping improve the environment, but also helping residents across the county to save money at a time when there is a spike in bills that can sometimes be overwhelming.”

As our retrofit programme continues, there is certainly interest from communities in the county to see when they too may benefit from upgrade effort. Meanwhile, the feedback we have had from residents who have had retrofits is encouraging, with a feel-good factor on the environment being reported, electricity usage dropping by almost a half in some cases, others welcoming a better quality of life and a general amazement at having a constant supply of hot water.

However, this is the start of a bigger process. The Dublin Energy Masterplan –developed by Codema – has identified that residential properties are the highest source of emissions and if we are to

meet the 2050 net zero emissions target, we need to find better ways to work together. Social and economic benefits from the proposals of the Dublin Region Energy Masterplan will be health benefits from an improvement in local air pollution and air quality as well as direct and indirect local employment generated. There will be a reduction in energy bills for residents and businesses, as well as warmer homes, a reduction of fuel poverty and importantly a muchdecreased reliance on fuel imports.

The underlying tenet of a retrofitting programme is a no brainer for us in Fingal, even more so now as the cost of living continues to rise for many of our residents. What is more the programme is also helping us move towards net-zero targets and protect the environment at a time when it is vitally important to do so. We hope that we can now quickly replicate the success we have had thus far, particularly if we can also help streamline the system along the way.

W: www.fingal.ie

“We are taking a whole-house approach rather doing this in a piecemeal way, which allows us to deliver a long-term investment that not only improves the energy efficiency of older homes but also helps residents reduce their energy bills at a time when many are feeling the pinch.”

Robert Burns, Director of Housing, Fingal County Council

housing report

Record homeless figures tell story of a missed opportunity

Having reached over 10,000 for the first time in 2019, the number of homeless people in Ireland was reduced throughout the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, but 2022 has seen a regression, with record high amounts of people accessing emergency accommodation recorded in the consecutive months of July and August.

Having peaked at 10,448 total people accessing emergency accommodation in November 2019 during the pre-Covid era, numbers fell to a low of 7,991 in May 2021 over the course of the pandemic. However, this figure was still higher than any homelessness figure recorded in Ireland prior to June 2017.

Stats for 2022 show a failure to grasp the opportunity that the Covid pandemic had opened up: the chance to fight the record numbers of homelessness that predated the pandemic and ensure that the once-

unthinkable figure of 10,000 homeless people in the State once again became unthinkable. The figure was breached again for the first time since the onset of the pandemic in April 2022, when 10,049 people, including 2,944 children, were recorded as having accessed emergency accommodation.

Figures have only worsened since then, rising to 10,325 (including 3,028 children) in May, 10.492 (3,071 children) in June, a record 10,568 (3,137 children), and, again, a record 10,805 (3,220 children) in August. As always

with these government figures, it must be remembered that what is being collated here is the number of people accessing emergency accommodation, meaning that the true number of homeless people, when the ‘hidden homeless’ and rough sleepers are factored in, was almost certainly above 11,000 in August 2020.

The data across the months in 2022 where over 10,000 homeless people have been recorded show that the majority of homeless adults are in the 25-44 age group, with 53 per cent of

Encouraging collaboration and sharing solutions

Total homelessness in Ireland,

report

Adults Children

the homeless adults in April belonging to that cohort, and 54 per cent in May, June, July, and August also falling within the age bracket. Second was the 45-64 age group, which recorded a 27 per cent proportion of homeless adults in each of these months.

As the year progressed, a miniscule change was recorded in the gender balance of the homeless adults. Having accounted for 65 per cent of the adult homeless population in April, May, and June, males accounted for 64 per cent of homeless adults in July and August.

As expected, the regional balance of the homeless population is heavily skewed towards Dublin. In April, 70.2 per cent of the 7,105 homeless adults and 73.1

per cent of the 1,308 homeless families were recorded in the county; in May, these figures stood at 70.9 per cent of 7,297 adults and 71.2 per cent of 1,366 families; in June, 70.9 per cent of the 7,421 adults were in Dublin, along with 71.5 per cent of the 1,385 homeless families; July saw 70.1 per cent of the 7,431 homeless adults in Dublin and 71.4 per cent of the 1,423 families; and August saw 70.2 per cent of 7,585 homeless adults and 71.9 per cent of 1,483 homeless families in the county. According to the 2022 census, the population of the State is 5,123,536, and the county of Dublin’s is 1,450,701, meaning that a city home to 28.3 per cent of the State’s total population is home to a consistent level of almost three quarters of its homeless population.

Homeless population breakdown in all 2022 months to record 10,000+ total homeless

Delivering cost rental and Project Tosaigh

The Land Development Agency (LDA) is a key channel for the development of cost rental housing with a mission to unlock state land and make more efficient use of it to deliver largescale affordable housing projects.

The LDA is currently active on 12 sites around the country and has launched an initiative to work with the private sector (Project Tosaigh) to acquire as yet unbuilt homes for cost rental and affordable purchase to accelerate the short-term delivery of a further 5,000 homes, catalysing their development.

Critical to creating new communities in the areas which are most in need of the

supply of new affordable housing is our interaction and collaboration with partners across the public sector. From identifying sites, through to the public consultation, master-planning and development phases, our aims will be achieved with close cooperation with city and county councils, approved housing bodies, the Department of Housing, and the range of state agencies who provide land for much-needed development.

Shanganagh, Shankill, County Dublin

The LDA in partnership with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, has commenced construction on the largest public housing scheme in the State in recent years at Shanganagh in Shankill, County Dublin

Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage Darragh O’Brien TD; Tim Lucey, Chief Executive, Cork County Council; Phelim O’Neill, LDA; and John O’Flynn, O’Flynn Group, against a backdrop of the building activity at Clonmore, Ballyviniter, Mallow, County Cork.

Shanganagh is an important milestone in progressing Housing for All, delivering on the LDA’s mission to unlock state land to deliver large-scale affordable housing projects around the country.

The first homes will be available by the end of 2024. The homes at Shanganagh will be 100 per cent affordable, with 51 per cent cost rental (306 homes), 15 per cent affordable purchase (91 homes) and 34 per cent social housing (200 homes). The development will offer a mix of accommodation suitable for single people, couples, and families with 99 of the new homes to have three bedrooms.

LDA affordable homes: First affordable purchase scheme

Aside from the development of sites on State-owned land, the LDA is progressing Project Tosaigh, a unique initiative to deliver 5,000 new homes by unlocking land in private ownership that has full planning permission but where delivery has stalled due to financing and other constraints. The process is progressing well, and we are delighted to have just launched our first scheme in partnership with Cork County Council.

Clonmore, Ballyviniter, Mallow, County Cork

The Land Development Agency (LDA) is to make available 95 affordable purchase homes under its Project Tosaigh initiative, through which the Agency expects to source almost 1,000 homes nationwide by year-end as part of its first phase.

The new homes are located in Clonmore, Ballyviniter, Mallow, in a joint project with Cork County Council, which will manage the application process with prospective buyers and the well-known developers the O’Flynn Group.

Prices will start from €260,0001 for three-bed semi-detached houses and €280,0002 for four-bed semi-detached houses, with buyers able to get support for up to 25 per cent of the cost through the Government’s affordable housing fund, under Housing for All. The application process for the first tranche of 38 homes will open on 24 October with 22 of the homes ready to be occupied in 2022 and the balance to be completed in 2023.

Clonmore is located on the northern side of Mallow town centre, within easy walking distance of a wide range of

amenities and just 2km from the main N20 Cork to Limerick road. The homes, built by the O’Flynn Group, include a mix of 24 three-bedroom semi-detached houses, 71 four-bedroom semidetached houses with private gardens set in a landscaped family friendly estate.

Pear Tree Crossing at Digital Hub, Dublin 8

The LDA has taken the lead role for the master planning of these lands in a first, key step in the redevelopment of these key State lands in Dublin City Centre to provide new mixed tenure affordable homes, accommodation for enterprise and commerce combined with amenity, cultural, community and open spaces that would realise tangible, social, economic and community benefits to be integrated into The Liberties.

St Kevin’s, Cork

The Land Development Agency (LDA) was delighted to welcome the Minister for Housing to the site of the former St Kevin’s Hospital in Cork city as enabling works begin. The development will regenerate an unused and derelict piece of State land to deliver much needed social and affordable housing for Cork. We hope to complete the tender process for the appointment of a main contractor by the end of this year, with the first homes available in 2024. Planning permission was approved for the construction of 265 homes, an enterprise centre and crèche facilities at the former St Kevin’s Hospital site in Shanakiel, Cork.

About the LDA

The Land Development Agency (LDA) was created in September 2018 with the purpose of improving the supply of affordable homes for individuals and families through the development of State and other land to deliver long-term sustainable solutions. The LDA has a national focus and is advancing schemes throughout Ireland

The LDA is underpinned by the Land Development Agency Act 2021, which gives us a statutory footing to pursue our goals. The Government has set ambitious targets under Housing For All, and we are pleased to be able to make a contribution to those targets, particularly when it comes to cost-rental as a new form of tenure in the State.

In the medium term the LDA have set its own target of delivering 1,500 homes per year, this will position us as one of the largest housebuilders in the country and the only one of that scale delivering 100 per cent affordable housing.

The LDA has also recently made significant progress on its longer-term pipeline with the submission of four planning applications (Dundrum, Balbriggan, Skerries and Naas) that will, if approved, deliver over 2,300 homes in schemes that will be 100 per cent affordable and social housing.

W: www.lda.ie

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Peartree Crossing: Image from new draft masterplan proposed for lands at a digital hub in Dublin 8.

Housing: A national or local crisis?

Maybe if we are all asking the same question, maybe, just maybe we can shift through opinion and get to the nub of the issue. So many people suggest that we have a crisis and yet we have so many new homes, for sale, for affordable and social housing, that are being voted against; land not being rezoned to enable the building of new homes and planning permissions lying idle, it is obviously not a national crisis for everyone.

How many appeals or observations are open within An Board Pleanála at this present time? While this is not the question being posed to you, a brief look at the website confirms a large number, a snapshot yes, but each of those appeals or observations is a block on an attempt to build or supply housing in this country, why? Not a simple answer, that much can be conceded, but if the country is facing a national crisis why are so many solutions and their progression being blocked?

Is it a national crisis? There is that question again. To answer a question with a question first, does every area need social and affordable housing? If not then it is not a national crisis, it is a local one; it is my back yard, my community and my crisis, my problem, not a national one. If I come from an affluent area, do I need social or affordable housing in that area to remain in the community I was raised in, or would it be preferable to move further afield so as not to taint that area with my need for housing? Surely my need, my community, should support my need for housing or is that my crisis, my problem and not the community’s, therefore not the nation’s?

I take a walk around my county, my area and I see land everywhere, I see a lot of housing, surely some social and affordable housing too and I acknowledge that each of those is a home to someone who needed it; for that family, their housing crisis was resolved. What about the areas not so affluent? Do these have a need for more social and affordable housing? If there is already a bank of social and affordable housing in this area will the community still want to live in that community, close to family and friends?

Housing for All was applauded and welcomed by stakeholders as a response to a nation’s housing crisis, but is it really a crisis for all or only those that need housing and those specifically tasked with responding to that need? John Hannigan, CEO of Circle Voluntary Housing Association.

“If this is considered to be a national crisis, and I believe it is, should we not create an all-party process that finds a way of addressing the issues causing the crisis. Unfortunately, it is a complex issue, there is no one solution and the potential solutions have many other unforeseen consequences, but should that stop us at least trying?”

John Hannigan, CEO Circle Voluntary Housing Association

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If there is land available, should we not build on it or can there be too much social and affordable housing? This is something that I am hearing more and more, “there is already too much (particularly) social housing in that area, we do not need more”. Can this really be the case?

So many questions which beg opinion and reach into the heart of the crisis we are in, but the one question I leave you with is the one I started with, is this a crisis for those who need a home and those tasked to respond or is it a crisis for this nation which needs a unified response?

In my role as CEO for a large Approved Housing Body, I am tasked with providing homes for those in housing need. Circle Voluntary Housing Association has been doing that since 2003. Now, more than ever, I am hearing the “too much social” phrase being used to stop development. Concerns about too many unemployed people in one area, not enough diversity of housing and not enough housing for first-time buyers. The truth is that there will never be too much housing in Ireland. We have an underutilisation of land right across our country, maybe not in Dublin but in nearly every other part of our land. Until we see supply increased by at least double, consistently for the next 10 years, we cannot have too many homes being built, for social, affordable, or first-time buyers.

If this is considered to be a national crisis, and I believe it is, should we not create an all-party process that finds a way of addressing the issues causing

the crisis. Unfortunately, it is a complex issue, there is no one solution and the potential solutions have many other unforeseen consequences, but should that stop us at least trying?

It will take five to 10 years for us to work our way out of our current predicament, this is not good enough for the mother, father and their children living in the one room in the bed and breakfast allocated by the relevant local authority (where they may have been for five years already), or the individual person trying to exit rough sleeping and homelessness, or the Garda or nurse or trainee doctor or teacher (all of whom earn less than the highest threshold for social housing) who want to live in their own community or just find a house to call their home.

My call is for all those involved in finding solutions for the national and local housing crisis, to come together and to work to shorten this time in the name of the citizens of Ireland. Put aside party, ideological differences and work to change how we approach this very serious human disaster that we are in.

T: 01 4072110

E: developmentteam@circlevha.ie W: www.circlevha.ie

Encouraging collaboration and sharing solutions

housing report

2023 mooted as right to housing referendum date

Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage

Darragh O’Brien TD has indicated that a referendum on a constitutional right to housing could be held in the early part of 2023.

O’Brien, who it was confirmed will retain his cabinet role in the upcoming December reshuffle, has been attempting a number of initiatives to curtail the housing crisis, including Housing for All and the establishment of the Housing Commission.

Article eight of the European Convention of Human Rights states that “everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence”. This argument has been used by those in favour of constitutional reform to argue that the non-provision of housing is in contrast to the European values to which Ireland holds itself.

The Articles between 40 and 44 enshrine constitutional rights to the citizens of the State, which cover civil liberties such as freedom of expression, freedom of association, and freedom of religion. Economic rights are not provided for as a state guarantee in Ireland.

Encouraging collaboration and sharing solutions

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The Taoiseach has stated that government intervention on rent prices would be unconstitutional, but a constitutional right to housing would invariably involve a level of state intervention in the housing market, whether these are publicly owned or with price caps on rents. Additionally, during the Covid-19 level five restrictions, the Government banned tenancy evictions and has banned evictions again until April.

The Irish Council for Human Rights argues that the “unconstitutional” argument of which the Taoiseach, among others, has made is disproven by the nature of a provision within Article 42, which obliges the Government to “supply the place” of parents who cannot or will not look after their children. In other words, the State already possesses the power to provide housing for citizens as long as they are children.

The Housing Commission, established earlier this year, includes a subcommittee chaired by Ailbhe O’Neill which aims to lay the groundwork for a referendum in 2023. It further completed a public consultation on holding a referendum which closed for submissions on 2 September this year.

The subcommittee meets every month and gathers the opinions and viewpoints of members of the general public, as well as experts in the housing sector.

Home for Good, representing Ireland’s leading homeless charities, published its submission for the proposed constitutional amendment:

1. “The State recognises, and shall vindicate, the right of all persons to have access to adequate housing.”

2. “The State shall, through legislative and other measures, provide for the realisation of this right within its available resources.”

They further state: “The fundamental problem is not that our Constitution sets out strong property rights. The fundamental problem is that the Constitution fails to set out what is meant by the ‘common good’ against which those rights are intended to be balanced and does not expressly protect the right to housing.

“Those in need of housing reform are left to rely on something that has been given no place, no words in the Constitution. It allows our legislators to shy away from doing what is right.

“This is not good enough. This is not what the people of Ireland want. We seek that the necessary words are spelt out clearly and unambiguously.”

There have been numerous attempts in the Dáil to introduce an amendment or piece of legislation which guarantees a right to housing. The latest of these, the 39th Amendment of the Constitution (Right to Housing) Bill 2020, introduced by People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett, is currently at committee stage in the Dáil.

Sustainability to the fore in new residential developments

decisions and is a key priority for regulators, policymakers, investors, and asset managers. Many international companies have appointed sustainability managers and sustainability teams to run a wide range of strategies to comply with their ESG policies and investment mandates which will play an internal role in the evolution of ESG within the asset management industry.

The feedback that Hooke and MacDonald have had from fund managers is that many of the institutional funds are putting money aside for ESG only assets. There is more of a mandate to invest in ESG credential buildings or buildings to be refurbished to hit those credentials. Asset owners, such as pension funds, are increasingly demanding sustainable investing strategies from their asset managers and this ultimately forms an important part of investors underwriting and due diligence assessment.

Hooke and MacDonald, a market leader in the Irish residential market, state that sustainable real estate is a stand-out feature within today's international real estate industry and that investors and stakeholders are becoming increasingly motivated to acquire properties that have sustainable characteristics, writes Ken MacDonald, Managing Director.

Considering the fact that buildings generate almost 40 per cent of energy consumption globally, with 28 per cent coming from the operations of buildings themselves, most investors around the world are committing to more sustainable practices than previously.

Irish building standards and statutory requirements related to them have been evolving over the last 10 years and this has improved the quality and sustainable characteristics of new residential developments. The housing energy efficiency regulations for new

housing that are in force in Ireland are applicable to both new homes and major renovations of existing properties. The European Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) introduced new building standards through amendments to Part L of the Building Regulations.

Investor attitudes and demand

Sustainability and the wider ESG agenda are increasingly front and centre of investment considerations and

One of the most globally recognised identifiers of green buildings is through LEED Certification (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). LEED provides a framework for healthy, highly efficient and cost-saving green buildings. There are different levels of certification, including a basic certification level, then silver, gold, and platinum levels. Some of the features of a building which are analysed include the following:

• building locations away from environmentally sensitive areas;

• access to public transport;

• access to bicycle storage;

• efficient use of energy, water, and other resources;

• use of renewable energy, such as solar energy;

• pollution and waste reduction measures, and facilitation of re-use and recycling;

• good indoor environmental air quality;

Ken MacDonald

• use of materials that are non-toxic, ethical, and sustainable;

• consideration of the environment in design, construction, and operation;

• consideration of the quality of life of occupants in design, construction, and operation; and

• a design that enables adaptation to a changing environment.

Economic benefits:

• gain competitive edge;

• attract tenants;

• manage performance;

• meets ESG goals; and

• cost effective.

Health benefits:

• happier occupants;

• healthier spaces with cleaner air;

• indoor environmental quality;

• reduce pollution;

• reduce energy and carbon emissions; and

• it is worth noting that LEED certification dominates BREEAM certification in markets globally, except for in Britain.

From Hooke and MacDonald’s experience of managing over 3,000 apartments and houses for institutional investors there is an increasing focus on being able to monitor and report on sustainability and ESG performance over the life of the assets. The GRESB approach is being sought after by a number of investors at this stage.

Sustainability and the Irish market

The Irish development community has evolved very positively in terms of sustainable development and the newer buildings being produced are of a very high quality, with a strong focus on energy efficiency and promoting sustainable usage of utilities. This approach is from developers and also their architects and other design team members, who are very focused on sustainable development, and they are ensuring that these traits are being designed into new schemes.

Purchasers of houses and apartments in Ireland, are becoming more cognisant of the sustainable characteristics and energy efficiency. Buyers’ perception of sustainability has rapidly moved away from just the cost saving on their heating but towards the overall quality of their living environment. This can be seen across all consumer groups, with first time buyers who are generally younger, reviewing the savings they will achieve over the course of their mortgage based on a more sustainable build, while in comparison the older population may factor in the health benefits such as the air quality aiding the reduction of respiratory conditions which can be caused by dampness in older homes.

The future

The demand for efficient buildings is growing exponentially. With financial, environmental, and social incentives in place the built environment will continue to transform. The following trends are being seen in some markets:

• investor shift towards energy efficiency and emissions regulation accelerating;

• margin discounts offered by active green lenders accretive to overall fund performance;

• green buildings being able to exhibit lower systematic risk through more stable income; and

• potential for yield compression and increased asset liquidity.

Material sustainability issues are becoming increasingly relevant in the future in terms of capital values and liquidity. When buying a property today that is designed, delivered, operated, and monitored to the highest standards then you can have confidence that if you ever go to sell that property or have it valued you will be in a good position; and it will perform better than a property that does not have sustainable characteristics as an intrinsic part of its nature.

Dealing with purchasers, including investors, over recent months and from research internationally, Hooke and MacDonald have found that there is an increasing appetite for properties that can illustrate sustainability and ESG as a high priority. The Irish construction industry is very well positioned in terms of developing sustainable buildings and having a focus on energy efficiency and is actively embracing the concept.

T: 086 256 3851

E: ken@hmd.ie W: www.hmd.ie

Encouraging collaboration and sharing solutions

housing report

The ‘renter generation’ and future policy implications

A study by the Economic Social Research Institute (ESRI) has found that homeownership for people aged 25-34 has declined from 60 per cent to under 30 per cent between the Celtic Tiger era of 2005 and 2015, and has predicted challenges for the current generation of renters in getting onto the housing ladder.

The report has revealed further challenges for the younger generations as they retire in the future, namely that homeownership has traditionally sheltered pensioners from additional expenses, and that if the ‘renter generation’ remains unable to access homeownership through their lives, then it will rapidly increase the pressure on the pensions system. Ownership traditionally provides a ‘double dividend’ of reduced expenses and lowering housing costs.

The continued requirement to cover housing costs for renters in retirement can be seen as an additional vulnerability in terms of retirement income adequacy in Ireland, over and above the general concern of sufficient pension income.

Additionally, research by the CSO and Eurostat has found that, over the last decade, homeownership levels have been decreasing more rapidly in Ireland than the EU average, although there has been decline throughout the EU, demonstrating that this is not a problem unique to Ireland. The ESRI has, however, found that homes in the State are overvalued by 7 per cent.

Encouraging collaboration and sharing solutions

Tenure shares Ireland

report

Generational divide in homeownership

Homeownership rates are roughly 10 percentage points lower (approximately 80 per cent) for those currently aged 55-64 and 45-54 when compared with current retirees (approximately 90 per cent), the report states that “this differential is unlikely to close substantially for these groups given their position in the lifecycle”.

The report recommends a reform of the pension system (both public and private) outlining the outdated nature of the current system which is geared towards pensioners who have traditionally been able to pay off a mortgage on a bought home. It outlines that, since projections show that homeownership will be lower for future generations, that consideration should be given toward this when it comes to future policy formulation.

It further critiques the Government’s current housing policies as being “uncertain” as to whether it will increase the levels of homeownership in the State, although it does acknowledge “there is certainly time for policies to influence the outcomes of this research from both a housing tenure and income support perspective”.

The report further emphasises the divide in poverty between younger people and older people in the State, and that the nature of the housing model in Ireland means that houses will only continue to become more expensive.

“Given future demographic projections and associated sustainability challenges, it is unlikely the State will also be able to fully carry the cost burden for the challenge of higher housing costs in retirement. Therefore, developing a policy strategy which mixes lifetime incentives to accumulate retirement assets during employment with an adequate safety net is most likely to be required,” the report states.

Given that homeownership declines as generations get younger, and that the population is continuing to grow in the State, it is difficult to envisage where the end to this problem comes from. Housing for All has the stated objective of providing affordable, high quality housing for every citizen in the State.

Whilst building has increased since the implementation of Housing for All, many of these homes have been acquired by wealthy property developers, thus emphasising the generational divide between the renter generation and the older population who have been able to own their own homes.

Own Outright Other Renter Local Authority Renter

Source: CSO Census of Population, various years.

Ireland lagging behind in the construction of apartment schemes

There is a pressing need to address these issues which are causing a low output of apartments in Ireland to the owner-occupier market.

An introduction to the scheme

On 10 May 2022, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage published an outline of the Croí Cónaithe (Cities) Scheme. The scheme, seen as necessary under the Government’s Housing for All plan, is a fund which aims to support the construction and sale of apartments to owner-occupiers. The scheme involves use of the funds to bridge the cost of development and bringing to market of each unit, and the market sale price. It is argued it will encourage compact growth in vibrant, liveable cities in addition to reducing vacancy and dereliction.

For years, various experts have held that the answer to housing supply shortages in cities lies with apartment construction. Certainly, where limited space exists, building up instead of out is difficult to argue with, write Paddy Smyth, Partner Real Estate and Joanna Bannon, Senior Associate Real Estate at Fieldfisher

In continental Europe, the vast majority of urban populations reside in apartments. Predominant features of European apartments are location, convenience, and amenities. Residents generally have access to amenities such as crèches, playgrounds, gyms, green areas, and car park facilities, all in proximity to shops and public transport.

The SCSI Cost of Apartment Delivery report, published in January 2021, provides figures on the cost of delivering various categories of apartments to the Irish market. The report indicates that apartments are more expensive to develop compared to houses, and that the viability of a project depends on the sale value exceeding the total development cost. In most instances, the

cost of building apartments is greater than the market value of a unit attainable by owner-occupiers. The report highlights that the construction of buy-to-rent schemes are more viable than buy-to-sell developments, partially due to reduced amenities for the latter type.

Additional factors influencing unit price include hard building costs driven by structural features of apartments, followed by building regulations and energy rating regulations. The feasibility of such projects also becomes more complex and costly due to the (essential) requirement that multi-unit developments be more heavily regulated than housing developments, as well as the need to secure sufficient levels of funding.

The Department estimate some 70,000 planning permissions remain uncommenced across Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford as a direct result of the viability gap. The Scheme will benefit from a €450 million fund earmarked for the Croí Cónaithe (Cities) Scheme and an additional €50 million for Croí Cónaithe (Towns) Scheme, a separate scheme providing grants between €30,000 to €50,000 for refurbishment of derelict properties.

It is proposed that the funding support be payable at the point of final conveyance to the eligible owner-occupier. It is further proposed that the Scheme will be managed and administered by the Housing Agency on behalf of the Department.

Development eligibility

The Department outlines the following criteria for development eligibility:

1. Located within Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway, or Waterford;

2. Four storeys or higher and minimum net density of 35 dwellings per hectare;

report

3. Close to public transport and amenities;

4. Must be sold to owner-occupiers;

5. Demonstrable viability gap; and

6. Development has full grant of planning approval but must not have commenced construction at time of submission (an exemption for multiphased developments exists).

Should a development meet this criteria, it will be ranked based on date of delivery, quality of development, density and delivery cost per apartment in addition to core services and amenities.

Proposals will then be subject to detailed due diligence and an open book assessment to ensure that the funding support provided feeds through in reduced acquisition cost for the ultimate owner-occupier. The requirement of open-book accounting may be challenging for financed developments where the financial details are required by banks to be kept confidential.

Eligibility of purchasers and costs

It is intended that eligible developments will be available openly to any purchaser(s) to live in themselves, or to jointly purchase one of the designated apartments under the scheme with the expressed intention of occupying the apartment as their normal place of residence. The purchaser will be required to provide a statutory declaration to this effect and will only be entitled to one apartment supported by the scheme.

Individual unit market prices will be determined following the due diligence process and both delivery costs and market values will be assessed by independent quantity surveyors and valuers appointed by the Housing Agency. While the level of funding will be dependent on the viability gap for each apartment, this will be calculated and fixed closer to the date of delivery.

The Government anticipates maximum funding for each apartment to be in the region of €120,000 with exceptions of an additional maximum of 20 per cent in regional cities where market prices result in a larger viability gap.

Conclusion

The scheme is a welcome initiative, providing workable solutions to some of the key barriers currently depressing construction of build-to-sell apartments. It will not only contribute to the increase of the housing supply but will have an important role in shifting society's perception of apartment living. If implemented efficiently it should assist in re-balancing city centre demographics, making them affordable places to live for all sections of society. Good planning and meeting amenity requirements in the proximity of developments will play an important role in winning society's approval and will directly contribute to creating sustainable communities in our urban areas.

T: 01 8280 684

E: joanna.bannon@fieldfisher.com W: www.fieldfisher.com

Rethinking the European Union’s energy strategy

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, outlined her ambitions on 7 September 2022 for ensuring that European energy is free of reliance on Russian fossil fuel imports.

The European Union has already set out plans to ensure that reliance on Russian fossil fuels is reduced by twothirds in 2022 and phased out entirely by 2027, as part of the comprehensive sanctions against the Russian Federation as a backlash against Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

As a result, the EU has already vastly decreased its imports of fossil fuels from Russia, with Norway now already supplying more liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the EU than Russia, as well as increases in investments in homegrown renewables as part of the REPowerEU strategy and has increased its demand storage to 84 per cent, thus curtailing reliance on Russian fossil fuel imports.

In a statement in September, von der Leyen outlined the Commission’s immediate measure to be adapted with the aim of protecting “vulnerable consumers and businesses and help[ing] them adapt”.

Caps on profits and energy use

Firstly, the Commission will propose a mandatory cap for reducing electricity use at peak hours, in what von der Leyen terms as ‘smart savings of electricity’. “What has changed is global supply is scarce. This calls for smart reduction in demand. We need a strategy to flatten the peaks which drive the price of electricity.”

The second proposal is for a cap on the revenues of companies who are producing low-cost electricity. “It is now time for customers to benefit from the low costs of low carbon energy sources, like renewables,” she states.

The European energy market is struggling to ensure a sustainable price and supply of energy for consumers partially, though not exclusively, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“Low carbon energy sources are making unexpected revenues, which do not reflect their production costs. We will propose to re-channel these unexpected profits to support vulnerable people and companies to adapt.”

Von der Leyen similarly sets out plans to cap the “unexpected profits” of fossil fuel companies. “Oil and gas companies have also made massive profits. We will therefore propose a solidarity contribution for fossil fuel companies because all energy sources must help address this crisis.”

She continues: “Member states should invest these revenues to support vulnerable households and invest in clean, homegrown energy sources.”

Supporting utility companies to cope with the volatility of the energy market is seen as crucial to ensuring their survival and ability to provide their services. In the President of the European Commission’s speech, she rationalises that utility companies are “currently being requested to provide unexpectedly large amounts of funds, which threatens their capacity to trade and the stability of the future markets”.

To support them, von der Leyen states that the Commission will help to facilitate liquidity support for energy companies within member states and will additionally update the current temporary framework to enable state guarantees to be delivered rapidly.

Maximum economic pressure on Putin

von der Leyen made her State of the Union address one week after her address on energy, where she was accompanied by Olena Zelenska, the First Lady of Ukraine, to emphasise the EU’s support for Ukraine, and to reiterate the measures announced in her policy speech.

Speaking on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Commission president stated that: “From day one, Europe has stood at Ukraine's side, with weapons, with funds, with hospitality for refugees, and with the toughest sanctions the world has ever seen.”

Emphasising the importance for the EU on imposing the maximum economic pressure on Russia, the fifth and final measure von der Leyen outlined in her energy speech was increasing the pressure on the Russian economy and ensuring that the European Union becomes free from the reliance and political capital which comes from its reliance on Russian fossil fuel imports.

This measure may exacerbate the ongoing price inflation for energy supplies, with the EU having a much smaller market to choose from, with the three largest oil producers in Europe – Russia, Norway, and the United Kingdom – all outside the EU.

Von der Leyen states that, since the imposition of the sanctions programme against the Russian Federation, that gas imports from Russia into the European Union have fallen from 40 per cent to 9 per cent, whilst the sanctions on Russia mean that all crude oil imports are to be banned from 2023.

Ireland only directly imports 5 per cent of its oil supply from Russia but is susceptible to price increases due to the solidarity measure to which it is bound through the EU, the reliance of Germany on Russian fossil fuel imports, as well as the consequences of the volatility of the market. The solidarity measure is designed to ensure that member states do not have a competitive advantage over one another and keeps the EU operating as a cohesive energy bloc.

“From day one, Europe has stood at Ukraine's side, with weapons, with funds, with hospitality for refugees, and with the toughest sanctions the world has ever seen.”

New EU Directive for working parents

Having been ratified in 2019, the EU’s Directive on Work-life Balance officially entered into the EU’s official journal in July 2022.

That Directive, which strengthens the rights of parents to paternity leave, parental leave, flexible working arrangements for parents, and carers’ leave, must be implemented by the Government within the next three years.

On parental leave, the Directive states that two months’ parental leave will be made transferable from one parent to another, with a level of compensation to be mandated by individual member states. The Irish Government does not currently mandate an employer to pay parental leave, with parents entitled to up to 26 weeks’ unpaid parental leave, with the onus falling on the employer as to whether they will be paid or not. The Directive will allow parents to be flexible in how they take their leave, including piecemeal or part-time.

With regard to paternity leave, the

legislation in place in the State – the Paternity Leave and Benefit Act 2016 –has guaranteed a right to paternity leave for new parents but fell short of obliging employers to pay their workers availing of paternity leave, with the Government subsidising the leave through paternity benefit.

The Directive will ensure that workers on paternity leave will earn a level of pay which at least matches statutory sick pay, currently €203 per week, for the duration of their leave.

The Directive also aims to strengthen flexible working arrangements for working parents, by extending the right to request to all working parents who have children aged eight and younger.

Workers who have a relative or person living in the same household who

requires care will be entitled to at least five working days’ paid leave. There is currently no state support for full-time carers who are in full-time employment, with a cap on payments of €224 per week for carers who are below the pension age, although they can only receive this amount if they have no income from any other source. Full-time carers are currently not permitted to receive state support if they are working more than 18.5 hours per week.

The Directive further states that member states’ governments should protect the right of workers to return to the same or an equivalent post after taking any of these leaves and retain entitlement to relevant rights already acquired, or in the process of being acquired, until the end of such leave.

Four changes to Ireland’s CAP Strategic Plan

After an initial submission was first rejected in March 2022, the European Commission has approved Ireland’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Strategic Plan for 2023 to 2027, estimated to come to a cost of around €10 billion.

The initial plan has to be redesigned owing to Ireland’s solidarity commitments as the European Union aims to end reliance on Russian fossil fuels, with the Commission further stating that Ireland needed to display “more ambition” with climate action, biodiversity, and environmental commitments.

The main changes to Ireland CAP Strategic Plan are:

1. Redesigning the Dairy Beef Welfare Scheme to support the use of high dairy beef index sires in dairy herds. This will now focus on improving the beef traits of calves to facilitate retention of calves on the island and better integration into local production systems. This replaces the weighing action previously proposed. The rate per calf will remain at €20/head.

2. Payment per eligible hectare was amended to allow an increased

percentage of beneficial features within a parcel giving farmers additional flexibility to protect these features without penalty. Beneficial features within a parcel can now account for up to 50 per cent of the area of the parcel without any deduction in the eligible area.

3. Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition (GAEC) seven was amended to ensure crop rotation requirements are implemented (as well as crop diversification), with rotation of either primary or with secondary crops (catch crops) on a four-year cycle at parcel and holding level. Crop diversification (two- and three-crop rules) continues as per initial proposal. Certain exemptions/exceptions apply to these requirements.

4. To align with the regulatory framework changes were made to GAEC eight (non-productive areas).

The requirement for holdings to have 4 per cent non-productive areas under GAEC eight remains but commonage, Natura 2000, forestry, GAEC two, and GAEC nine lands will not have an area weighting factor, as originally proposed but will, in most cases, be effectively exempt from this requirement. Rock is now included as a non-productive beneficial feature. The hedgerow removals text was amended to specify that removals are to be permitted in exceptional cases only and the replanting obligation must take place as close as possible to the removed hedgerow.

Upon approval of the plan, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue TD said: “I am confident that we have presented a robust plan, which aims to meet the twin objectives of ensuring the continued viability of family farms and maximising the environmental and social sustainability of the sector.”

public affairs eolas

Meet the ”

Meet the media: Daniel Murray

How did you get into journalism?

I completed an MA in journalism at Dublin City University nearly 10 years ago and off the back of that landed a placement in TV3 (now Virgin Media) on the Tonight with Vincent Browne show.

I still remember going for the interview with Bob Hughes, who was deputy director of news in TV3 at the time. The only placement on offer was for an entirely different show called Late Lunch Live. I spent most of my interview talking about current affairs, politics and how much I enjoyed the Tonight show. To Bob’s credit, he went off and informed the then producers of the Tonight show that there was an

affairs

eager young man who would be interested in an internship on the show. To my surprise, Bob rang me up the next week and said he had a place for me on the Tonight show, even though no placement there had been on offer. I was delighted and stayed working with the show for five years. I owe Bob my start in the industry. I then spent some time in public relations before joining the Business Post in 2019.

How do you think the profession is evolving?

I think the quality of journalism in Ireland is very high, but the industry has been going through this digital ‘transition’ for many years now, with most titles still struggling to find

Daniel Murray is a political correspondent with the Business Post, having previously worked as a producer on the Tonight with Vincent Browne show from 2012 to 2017.

an online subscription model that can make up for the drop in print circulation and advertising revenue that has occurred. I think journalists are much nimbler as a consequence of things shifting online and have to be much quicker at both understanding and turning around stories.

However, there is merit in what we do at the Business Post, which is to focus on a single weekly edition alongside our online content. This results in a depth and quality of coverage that is worth holding onto, and I hope that focus can be maintained even if we reach a point where people are not buying single editions of print newspapers anymore.

public affairs eolas

The pressure! Endless deadlines, neverending research, confrontational interviews, the responsibility of having a large public platform, fact-checking your work to within an inch of its life, and then trying to tie it all together into something that is digestible and engaging.

But these are also all of the things that are most rewarding and exciting about working in print journalism. Years ago, Vincent Browne advised me to write for a print publication if I ever got the opportunity, because writing forces you to think through, clarify and organise your thoughts on whatever subject you are writing on. That is a very valuable

exercise to do day-in-day-out. Print, as opposed to broadcast, gives you slightly more time to do that, and therefore I think it remains the most valuable medium of news delivery in terms of quality, depth, and accuracy.

Who do you admire most within the industry and why?

I admire so many of my peers for their relentless work-ethic, their ingenuity in finding and breaking stories and their communications skills in selling those stories. I learn something new from my generation of journalist colleagues every week on all those fronts.

But it is those who have been in the game for a long time and continue to have the hunger, drive, and talent to deliver stories that I admire the most. These include the likes of Justine McCarthy, Stephen O’Brien, and Harry McGee, to name a few.

What has been your most significant story or project to date?

I think my coverage, along with my colleague Lorcan Allen, of Ireland’s electricity system crisis is the most significant work I have done to date. I was covering the issue for years before it emerged into the mainstream, and we in the Business Post have led that coverage and broken nearly every story in relation to it as the scale of the crisis in power supply versus power demand has

become apparent. I think we have done a good job of investigating, deciphering, and translating what is an incredibly complex area, all the while ensuring we anchor our coverage in the environmental realities of climate change and the energy transition.

Equally, our broader coverage of climate change has treated the issue with a seriousness and attention to detail that I think has really made an impact on both policy and other media coverage in Ireland.

How do you spend your time outside of work?

These days all my time outside of work is spent with my amazing wife Niamh and our new baby boy Ruadhán, who is just six months old. I am a music lover as well and my main pastimes involve playing guitar, piano, and occasionally singing. I like to read as well and am particularly interested in history, but that has been put somewhat on the back burner since our very demanding little boy arrived!

I try to wake up early to exercise most days and my weekday evenings are mostly spent watching whatever the latest season of true crime myself and Niamh are engrossed in.

What are the most significant challenges of working in print journalism?

“Vincent Browne advised me to write for a print publication if I ever got the opportunity.”

Daniel Murray, political correspondent, the Business Post

Political Platform

How did your political career begin?

I was always interested in politics and in current affairs. Figuring out how the world works and why it does not work better. My mother often reminds me how difficult it was to get me away from the TV as a young child when election counts were taking place. My dad was active in the Labour Party and as a shop steward in the 1970s and 1980s in the factory where he worked. Politics and labour alongside community and union values were a big feature of life for me when I was growing up and I have been involved in election and political activities for as long as I can remember.

I studied politics in UCD in the 1990s and contested the local elections in Drogheda in 1999 and was elected to Louth County Council that year at the age of 23.

What are your most notable achievements in the Oireachtas to date?

The opportunity to serve as Super Junior Minister for Business and Employment between mid-2014 and early 2016 allowed me to do what I think are some important things which have made life better for many workers across the country.

Ged Nash TD

Labour Party spokesperson for finance, public expenditure and reform Ged Nash TD was first elected to represent the Louth Dáil constituency in 2011. Having lost his Dáil seat in 2016, Nash was subsequently elected to the Labour Panel in Seanad Éireann before returning to Dáil Éireann as a TD for the Louth constituency following the 2020 general election.

I set up the Low Pay Commission in law in 2015 and we now have a new, fairer way to set the national minimum wage, with increases to the minimum wage in every year since the Commission was formed. It also sparked the momentum towards the creation of a real living wage for workers.

New wage setting mechanisms I legislated for have also improved the pay and terms and conditions of hundreds of thousands of workers in construction, security, contract cleaning, and other sectors and it is a source of real satisfaction that these systems have now

helped unions and employers deliver better wages and conditions for highly skilled early years educators.

One does not have to be in government to make positive change. Every legislator has a responsibility and indeed opportunities to bring about reform and positive change. A case in point is the way I managed, during my spell in the Seanad, to work with my Labour colleagues in opposition and the then government to secure the historic State in 2018 to the LGBTQ+ community for the way in which our laws and our society discriminated against citizens of the community for much of our history. The second element of my proposals – work on the introduction of a scheme to disregard convictions of many gay men before the 1993 law that decriminalised homosexuality was passed – is making good progress.

What is unique about representing the Louth constituency?

It is my homeplace and I am very much ‘of it’. I really love representing Louth and east Meath. Every day is different. In many ways it is a constituency of contrasts – the two largest towns in Ireland – Drogheda and Dundalk – at two opposite ends of a county which straddles the border at one end but practically borders Dublin at the other. It is one of the fastest growing parts of the country, especially the Drogheda, south Louth, and east Meath part of the constituency and this area has not really had the investment and central government support an urban area of its size, scale and significance ought to attract. The area must be empowered to reach its full potential.

What are your priorities going forward?

My immediate priorities involve ensuring that the State uses the wealth we do have to help support those who are on low and middle incomes through

this vicious cost of living crisis. This is the single biggest and most urgent issue facing us all. The success of our country should no longer be measured by economic growth alone but how we make our country fairer and more sustainable through real progress on housing, climate, healthcare, and jobs. Every single economic and social measure we will propose will be considered through that lens.

How can the Labour Party maximise its impact in opposition?

We are at present a small party but with a reach into and a history in virtually every community in the country. We are ambitious for an Ireland that works, and we can maximise our impact in opposition by being constructive with government when it is in the interests of the country and be critical but solutions-focused when government falls short. Unlike some parties who are hellbent on pleasing everyone, Labour knows that the kind of dishonest populism we are being sold now will only serve to put off the structural economic, tax, social and environmental reforms we so badly need today. We do not see it as our role just to opposeothe Government for the sake of it. The Opposition is not some kind of monolith and while we cooperate with other opposition parties, we will carve out our own unique positions.

What are your interests outside of the political sphere?

I am an avid Drogheda United fan and I azm a regular gig-goer with my wife and friends. I have a history of involvement with the arts. During the dark days of the pandemic, I really missed the theatre, cinema, and live music. This summer I really enjoyed the chance to reengage with live music again and I am looking forward to catching as many plays as I can this autumn and winter.

“We do not see it as our role just to oppose the Government for the sake of it.”

Ged Nash TD

Environment Ireland 2022

Environment Ireland 2022 recently took place on

October at Croke Park, Dublin. Over

delegates attended the two-day event which included

from Minister Eamon Ryan,

Delegates in attendance heard from over 40 speakers, both visiting and local, from organisations including the Department for the Environment, Climate and Communications; European Commission; IPCC; European Environment Agency; Scottish Wildlife Trust, Arthur Cox; Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage; Repak; Environmental Protection Agency and Friends of

Taoiseach: Opposition “knows our plans will deliver”

His leadership speech reflected on the record of his Government, whose time in office has been dominated by dealing with crises outside the State’s control such as the inflation crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic.

On Covid-19, the Taoiseach sombrely reflected on how “thousands of families mourn the loss of loved ones taken by this terrible virus, and it has had an impact which will take many years to truly understand and overcome.” He further stated that “the journey was not straightforward and there were some dark, difficult periods.”

Martin defended the Government’s record on Covid, stating that “Ireland saw nearly 5,000 fewer deaths than if we had been simply at the European average in our pandemic response – and over 7,000 fewer than our nearest neighbour”.

The ard fheis was held in the aftermath of Budget 2023, which gave the Taoiseach the opportunity to highlight the main measures to alleviate the cost-of-living crisis, including a €600 credit for winter energy bills and an ambition to give families a 25 per cent cut in childcare costs.

Martin said to delegates that housing is the “single most important social issue facing this country” and outlined measures such as Help to Buy and the First Homes Scheme which the Government has taken. On Housing for All, he acknowledged that “our action on housing is not being felt by everyone yet” but that “by every measure, home building and renovations are up”.

On education, the Taoiseach said that “the Leaving Certificate has to be reformed; it has to provide more options for assessment and to measure a more complete range of skills”.

On the national question, Martin struck a notably reserved tone, stating that “we have to get on with the hard work of moving from talk to action”, outlining the work done by the Shared Island Initiative. In attendance at the ard fheis was the SDLP’s Justin McNulty MLA, in spite of the apparent severing of links between the two parties announced earlier that week.

The Taoiseach was introduced to party delegates by Education Minister Norma Foley TD, who launched a scathing attack on Sinn Féin, the main opposition party,

referring to them as a “baseless, negative, and spineless” opposition who are “the most cynical opposition our country has ever seen”, much to the delight of the delegates in attendance.

Martin reiterated this sentiment in his address, stating that “the emptiness of the opposition’s policy, their lack of a credible alternative shows that they know that our plans will deliver and they are doing everything they can to block them”.

Exiting the stage to Fatboy Slim’s ‘Right Here Right Now’ Martin clearly reaffirmed his leadership of the party, although there were murmurs among delegates about how “Norma [Foley] stole the show”.

In the week prior to the ard fheis, Martin stated that he intends to return as Taoiseach in the future, as he prepares to resign the office in December and assume the role of Tánaiste.

Whilst by vote share, Martin has led Fianna Fáil to its three worst general election results since the party’s foundation in 1926, he can take solace in that he led Fianna Fáil back to government after many predicted their demise.

eolas Magazine attended the Fianna Fáil ard fheis where Micheál Martin

TD delivered his first – and likely last – leader’s speech as Taoiseach.

public affairs

Ireland’s politicians make their cases for reunification

eolas Magazine attended the Ireland’s Future conference on 1 October at the 3Arena in Dublin. The very presence of all of the Oireachtas’ major parties at this event, as well as the 5,000 attendance demonstrates that Irish reunification is now a prospect which is being taken seriously at the very highest levels of Irish politics.

Former DUP leader Peter Robinson said in 2014, “I’m afraid Gerry’s [Adams] day is over. He’s not going to get his united Ireland; it simply isn’t going to happen” whilst acknowledging that unionism “could extract defeat from the jaws of victory”. Polling at the time indicated that a united Ireland was the expressed will of only 17 per cent of voters in the North.

Opinion polls since the 2016 Brexit referendum have shown a significant increase in support for reunification in the North, with the most recent LucidTalk poll show that 41 per cent in the North support unity, with 48 per cent opposed.

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald TD received a warm reception from the audience and called on the Government to introduce a citizens’ assembly and to “urgently plan for constitutional change and unity referendums”.

Tánaiste and Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar TD was met with boos from a small section of the 5,000 crowd when he suggested that Northern Ireland could continue to exist as an entity with its own devolved parliament, policing, courts, education, and health services, as well as stating that co-operation between Britain and Ireland ought to continue post-unity.

Fianna Fáil backbencher Jim O’Callaghan TD said he “would be willing to go anywhere to argue for a united Ireland” and when asked if he “would like to be the first Taoiseach of a united Ireland” responded “yes”.

There were no unionist representatives at the event, although invitations were extended, but the contributions of figures such as actor James Nesbitt, who called for a “new union of Ireland”, and Karen Sethuraman, demonstrate that the terms Protestant and unionist are not mutually exclusive in the North.

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood MP argued that, in order to win a referendum in the North, people need to believe that they will be better off economically in a united Ireland, and that the merits of re-joining the EU will be a key selling point. This Clintonesque analysis will arguably be a factor which tips the scales in the event of a future referendum.

The gathering was an important steppingstone for broadening the debate on Irish reunification, and with continued engagement among Ireland’s political class, the arguments for unity can become more substantive. The objective from the organisers appears to be ensuring that the Irish political class are engaged on the topic, which has undoubtedly been achieved, but to convince a majority voters in the North of the merits of unity, significantly more substance will be necessary.

We all benefit from the role of data centres, this is particularly obvious over the past three years where remote working, virtual meetings, cloud storage and computing has allowed many of us to continue our daily lives, moving from the physical to the virtual workspace. This has also had an environmental impact with remote working and associated fall in driving contributing to a reduction in emissions.

Modern data centres are efficient, using 80 per cent less energy per computing load than traditional on-premises servers, reducing emissions from computing but they pose unique challenges for Ireland that are not as relevant for other countries. This is due to the smaller size of Ireland’s power system where data centres (or any large energy users) tend to have outsized impact on the grid. Other countries such as Germany have a higher number of data centres, but the portion of national electricity consumption (3 per cent) is smaller.

In 2021, data centres consumed 14 per cent of annual electricity and are responsible for 2 per cent (900,000 tonnes) of carbon emissions. This is equivalent in emission terms to one large peat-fuelled power station.

The projected growth in electricity demand from data centres poses two

Getting to grips with the energy demand of data centres

challenges for Ireland in terms of:

1. Security of supply: Data centres add large amounts of inflexible load to a system where more flexibility is required as the generation mix becomes increasingly intermittent. This increases peak electricity demand which has implications for thermal power plant capacity to meet that peak; and

2. Climate targets: While some data centre operators support the development of renewables such as wind, data centres (like all power users) are taking fossil fuel electricity from the grid at times of low wind speeds. This requires an increase in national power plant capacity to keep pace with growing demand and thus increases carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions across the national system.

Even though some data centre operators may cover 100 per cent of their annual energy demand via renewable power purchase agreements this does not mean that they are using zero carbon power at all times of the day or every day of the year. This captures a core challenge for data centres operators insofar as to how to have low or zero carbon power at times when wind speeds are low, or it is not sunny.

For the same given renewable electricity target (expressed in percentage share of overall demand) the resulting emissions will grow as demand grows. When considering emissions, it allows a full understanding of the efficiency of the data centre, capturing their ability to respond flexibly to demand and its own energy use, whereas a singular focus on renewable energy misses these points and may not capture benefits that some data centres can offer to decarbonisation.

There are several key measures that can be implemented to reduce emissions and increase security of supply for the grid. A common feature across these measures is the ability to be flexible both in terms of generation and demand.

On the generation side, we need to build efficient flexible and cleaner gas-fired generation quickly in Ireland in parallel with building out more renewables. This will allow the system to cope with periods of low wind speeds in a cleaner way and increase the reliability of the grid.

On the demand side, the conversation needs to move from ‘how many data centres’ to ‘what type’ and ultimately it should be the cleanest, most flexible data centres that are encouraged in Ireland with the goal to have as many data centres as possible using clean power every hour they operate.

Data centres are key parts of the digital and data economy, writes Paul Deane, senior researcher in clean energy futures with Science Foundation Ireland's MaREI Centre in University College Cork.