Budget for
the SDGs ^_____

Despite the annual Budget process arguably being the most important policy event of the year, the SDGs have never meaningfully featured, meaning that there is no evidence that the SDGs are being used as a decision making tool for resource allocation. Aligning budgets with the SDGs improves overall policy coherence, mitigating conflicts between different resource allocations and reinforcing the very nature of the SDGs as being overarching and interconnected. This alignment is recommended by The United Nations Development Programme and the OECD, in order to gauge the contribution of the budget to the SDGs.

We call for the SDGs to be hardwired into the planning and budgetary processes across the State, an important political signal in itself, but one that can also allow for more effective monitoring of progress towards the Goals and comprehensive budgeting for long-term sustainable development.

In particular, we call on the Government to:

Tag all national budget lines and reports to specific SDG targets, using both the UN indicators and nationally relevant indicators.

Use the SDGs as a decision making tool for resource allocation by Creating a 10-year policy programme on the funding and implementation of the SDGs, signed by all political parties, both in Government and in opposition to ensure long-term commitment. This should include a review and re-commitment after 5 years.

Map expenditure categories against the SDGs and screen budget requests based on their contribution to the SDGs.

Invest at least €15 million in the 2025 Budget towards SDG disaggregated data collection, ensuring both the Central Statistics Office and the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission are sufficiently resourced to monitor national SDG progress, and allow citizens to engage with this data (and perhaps to help with the generation of this data).