Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 25 June 2026
48. Deputy Naoise Ó Muirí asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance if he will outline the output of the decarbonisation, energy, agriculture and sustainability session at the 2026 National Economic Dialogue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48189/26]
View answerThe 2026 National Economic Dialogue (NED) took place at Dublin Castle on Monday 15 June, with an overarching theme of “Reforming now for a secure future: Putting Future Forty into practice”.
The Dialogue is an important element of the Government’s budgetary framework. The Government is committed to a genuine, two-way dialogue, and the NED provides a deliberative forum for participants to engage in an open and inclusive exchange on the competing economic and social goals of the Government.
The NED is the principal institutional forum for wider public consultation and discussion on our future budgetary trajectory. It is important to note that while the NED is not intended to produce specific budget proposals or recommendations, the Government will reflect on the themes and ideas which emerged in preparing for Budget 2027.
The NED was an opportunity to consider how to make best use of the available resources in the interests of all citizens through a frank and open debate. For 2026, my Department, alongside officials from the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation selected key themes to focus on, namely:
Finance
Reform and Delivery
Social Protection
Housing & Skills
Competitiveness & Trade
Agriculture & Climate
Disability
Each of these themes were addressed in a closed breakout session that was chaired by Government Ministers and informed by a third party rapporteur. In the case of the session on Decarbonisation, Energy, Agriculture and Sustainability: Transitioning to a Lower Carbon Economy, both the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment and Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien and Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Noel Grealish co-chaired the discussion. The attendees at this session were a broad cross section of the leading representatives from the Farming and Climate sector along with delegates from the Unions and large lobbying groups. The discussion was informed by a paper developed by officials from my Department and this, along with the papers for the other sessions, is available on Gov.ie.
Maeve Dineen from the Central Bank Commission was the rapporteur for the Climate and Agriculture breakout and shared some of the key findings with all the delegates at the afternoon plenary session. A recording of this panel discussion with each of the rapporteurs from each breakout and the question and answer session between delegates and myself and Minister Chambers will be available on Gov.ie shortly.
The Chair of this years' National Economic Dialogue, Professor Orla Doyle, will draft a Chair's Summary of the proceedings and this will be published on Gov.ie in the coming weeks. The publication will also include a summary report of each of the seven breakout sessions.
