Our History

For more than 50 years the National Economic and Social Council has played a defining role in public policy-making in Ireland through its deliberative processes. In its early years, NESC was one of the few bodies undertaking strategic, long-term analyses of Ireland’s position and problems.

2020s

NESC’s first publication of 2024 was Natural Capital Accounting: A Guide for Action. This was followed by the half-day event Making Nature Visible: What Can Natural Capital Accounting Do For Us?, which was held on 12th March 2024 and featured a keynote address by Carl Obst, global leader in NCA.

In 2023 NESC celebrated its 50th anniversary. To mark a half-century of providing advice to the Taoiseach and Government on strategic policy issues, NESC hosted an in-person conference in the Printworks, Dublin Castle on 23rd November 2023. Discover the highlights of this milestone event here.

Additionally, NESC published five Council Reports in 2023: Private Rental in Ireland, Understanding the Irish Economy in a Time of Turbulence, Social Enterprise on the Island of Ireland, Just Transition in Agriculture and Land Use, and Inequality and Well-Being Frameworks.

The publication of the Just Transition in Agriculture and Land Use report was preceded by a conference exploring the report’s contents and conclusions; it was held in the Convention Centre Dublin on 30th June 2023. Click here to view a selection of photos taken on the day.

NESC’s Shared Island work saw us travel to University College Cork and The Playhouse, Co. Derry in July and October 2022, respectively. These events brought together leading voices from both sides of the border to discuss the findings of our Shared Island Shared Opportunity Comprehensive Report; a follow-up paper, Exploring Shared Opportunities in the North West, was also launched. For further information please visit the respective event pages: Shared Island: Shared Opportunity – Cork and Shared Island: Shared Opportunity – Derry.

2010s

From the late 2000s to the early 2010s the Council examined what it called Ireland’s “five-parts of the crisis.” It published work on the European Union, and examined quality and standards in a number of human services. During this time, NESC began to integrate sustainable development issues into its analysis of significant national challenges.

2000s

In The Developmental Welfare State (2005), NESC argued for a combination of services, income support and innovative measures to achieve better social protection and participation for children, people of working age, older people and those with disabilities. A major report on Housing, as well as several background papers on issues such as land management, were also produced.

1990s

Throughout the 1990s NESC looked at how Ireland was positioned in terms of both the economy and wider society, and what the future environment was likely to hold. It advised on the direction Ireland needed to take in order to position itself well as it entered the 21st century. Reports focused on the integration and enlargement of the European Union, CAP reform, emigration, education and training policies.

1980s

The crisis of the 1980s led the Council to formulate a strategy in 1986 for Ireland to escape from a vicious circle of stagnation, rising taxes and high debt. The resulting report, A Strategy for Development, formed the basis upon which Government and the social partners negotiated the Programme for National Recovery, the first of seven social partnership agreements. The Council also published work on a wide range of additional topics, including Ireland’s prospects in the European Community, housing, education, industrial policy, the labour market and health services.

1970s

Social policy, income distribution, housing, public expenditure and tax revenue were among the first areas tackled by NESC in its early years.