Ireland can enhance its efforts to achieve its sustainable development goals (SDGs) for 2030 by aligning budget allocations with SDG targets, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The OECD published its policy coherence scan of Ireland today (July 21), which found that aligning budget allocations with SDG targets will enable a clearer assessment of financial commitments to achieve the goals, paving the way for more impactful and effective sustainability measures.

The report found that Ireland's National Development Plan 2021-2030 plays a significant role in supporting local authorities in implementing SDGs.

However, the OECD indicated that a key challenge for Ireland is about how to ensure "vertical coherence".

The report said that the cross-sectoral and integrated approach that underpins the SDG agenda needs to be "fully embraced" and applied across levels of government and within local administrations.

According to the report, stakeholder engagement is a "key feature" of SDG implementation in Ireland.

The National SDG Stakeholder Forum and public consultation processes provide opportunities for civil society, the private sector, and local governments to contribute to sustainable development policies.

However, the OECD claims that the engagement remains "largely ad hoc", with limited systematic integration into decision-making processes.

It said that strengthening political co-ordination and fostering a more structured, inclusive and transparent engagement framework could improve policy coherence and ensure broader participation.

The report also indicated that strengthening Ireland’s monitoring and evaluation systems to better capture impacts on sustainable development, including improving data collection and reporting mechanisms, would improve policy coherence, and track progress towards the SDGs more effectively.

The OECD report found that Ireland has demonstrated "significant progress" in aligning national policies with the SDGs, and that ongoing efforts in the country aim to bridge the remaining gaps between policy ambition and implementation.