Tribute to Michael Ewing

I take the opportunity to pay tribute to a long-time member of NESC, Mr. Micheal Ewing, who passed away last week. Michael served for a decade on NESC, representing the environmental pilar. He was instrumental in establishing the environmental pilar which became the fifth pilar of social partnership. He was a kind, considerate and very pragmatic man who had a deep passion for a healthy and thriving environment. He believed in dialogue and in talking to people we disagree with. We need more of that kind of spirit in present day politics.

NESC’s most recent report from July 2023, Inequality and Well-Being Frameworks, finds that well-being frameworks hold the potential to address inequalities through, for example, new ways of working such as social dialogue and the incorporation of well-being metrics. We have to plan for a future where we move beyond GDP and make the well-being of our citizens the dominant metric for our economic success. Will the Taoiseach consider the establishment of the commission of future generations, as they have done across the water in Wales, to give the well-being framework teeth and to ensure that well-being today and into the future is both planned and provided for?

Taoiseach: I join Deputy Ó Cathasaigh in recognising the contribution of Michael Ewing to the NESC. I pay tribute to him and express my condolences to his friends and colleagues.