Department of Rural and Community Development

DEPARTMENT OF RURAL AND COMMUNTIY DEVELOPMENT

Social Enterprise - Social impact and sustainability in their DNA

Social enterprises provide solutions to the challenges society faces –and public policy is behind them.

This is the second year that the Department of Rural and Community Development has collaborated with the Chambers Ireland Sustainable Business Impact Awards sponsoring the category of ‘Partnership with a Social Enterprise’. This award recognises excellence in mainstream business supporting social enterprise, raises awareness of the benefits that social enterprises bring, and improves access to business-tobusiness opportunities for social enterprise.

DEPARTMENT OF RURAL AND COMMUNTIY DEVELOPMENT

Social Enterprise

Social enterprises are businesses that work primarily to improve the lives of people. Their core objective is to achieve a social, societal, or environmental impact. Like other businesses, social enterprises pursue their objectives by trading in goods and services on an ongoing basis.

They often play a role in providing employment to disadvantaged groups, those who are long-term unemployed, or those with a disability. In addition, they also frequently address social issues such as food poverty, mental health, equality, housing or climate action. There is a wide spectrum of social enterprises in Ireland, from local community-based enterprises to larger internationally trading enterprises.

Examples of prominent social enterprises include FoodCloud, who redistribute surplus food from supermarkets to charities such as Vincent de Paul; Bounceback Recycling, who recycle mattresses and provide employment and training to Travellers; and Speedpak, who provide customised packaging and distribution services for other companies as a means of providing work experience and training to the long-term unemployed.

National Policy

In 2019, the Department of Rural and Community Development (DRCD) published the first National Social Enterprise Policy for Ireland, with a vision to support the growth and impact of social enterprise in Ireland.

It is focused on three key objectives: building awareness of social enterprise, growing and strengthening social enterprise, and achieving better policy alignment. Implementing the Policy

In 2021 an awareness strategy was developed, in association with stakeholders, to highlight the critical role social enterprises play in responding to challenges facing Irish Society, and to emphasise their potential to shape a more sustainable future.

In 2022 the DRCD has commissioned a Baseline Data Gathering Exercise of Social Enterprise. For the first time, we will know the extent of social enterprise in Ireland, the areas in which social enterprises operate, the sectors or sub-sectors they operate in, the numbers of staff they employ and this will give us a fuller understanding of the contribution they make to society.

In parallel, the DRCD has engaged the OECD to conduct an in-depth international review of the implementation of the National Social Enterprise policy. This fully independent exercise will provide recommendations to government on the OECD’s view of progress and where we need to do more.

Together, the results of the OECD Review and the Baseline Data Gathering Exercise will be valuable resources when developing the successor to the Social Enterprise policy that is due to be published in 2023.

Social enterprises are natural champions of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); it is impossible to be a social enterprise and not have the SDGs in your DNA. The inclusion of the ‘Partnering with a Social Enterprise’ category in the Sustainable Business Impact Awards will focus on collaboration while at the same time bringing more awareness of the potential of social enterprise across many areas of society.