History of NESC

History of NESC

Contents

The work of NESC since 1973

In its early years, the NESC was one of the few bodies undertaking strategic, long-term, analysis of Ireland’s position and problems.  The work of the NESC has always had a strong emphasis on the challenge of economic development in a small peripheral, previously agricultural, economy; and in the early 1970s this was reflected in reports on the Irish economy, regional development, manpower, jobs and farming.  Reports on social policy, income distribution and housing followed in the mid-1970s, as well as publications on public expenditure and tax revenue.  In the early 1980s, the NESC undertook a major review of Irish industrial policy, and agreed reports on Ireland’s experience in Europe.  Throughout the 1980s reports on employment, housing, education, and social policy were also agreed, and indeed all of these issues have continued to be an enduring focus of the Council’s work.

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.  This 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 NESC continued to produce strategy reports which formed the basis of negotiation for the next six social partnership agreements, from 1990 to 2006.  During this period, specific reports on employment, industry, social policy, education, rural development and public services also continued to be published.

In 2005, the NESC published the Developmental Welfare State, which looks at the relationship between Ireland’s economic and social development. The report 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.  This framework has been  used to structure the Towards 2016 social partnership agreement, and a wide range of related Government policies.

More recently, the Council has examined the challenges facing Ireland, and identified five key parts to the current crisis. The Council argued that the crisis – fiscal, banking, economic, social and reputational - will demand fundamental changes in the economic and social system, in public policy and regulation, and in international relations and governance. The NESC remains a unique setting in which social dialogue between Government and various stakeholders can take place on these issues.

Composition and chairing of the NESC

Since the NESC was set up in 1973 there have been a number of changes in the structure of the Council, and its chairing arrangements.  The first Council was much larger than today, with 46 members (43 men and one woman).  These members were nominated by Government (16 members), a number of industry organisations (10 members), various Irish agricultural organisations (10 members), and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) (10 members).  At that time the Council was chaired by an independent expert. 

Since 1983 the Council has been chaired by the Secretary General of the Department of the Taoiseach. Changes to the structure of the Council were also made in 1983, with the number of members halved, to 23 (21 men and two women). Seven members were Government nominees, five were nominated by industry groups, five by farming groups, and five by ICTU. 

In 1990, an observer from the European Commission was also appointed, and this representation continued until 1999.

In 1996, the composition of the NESC underwent another major change, with the inclusion of nominees from community and voluntary organisations. This increased the membership of the Council to 31 (18 men and 13 women).  At that time there were eight Government nominees, the Secretary Generals of five Government departments, six ICTU nominees, six nominees from business and industry organisations, and six nominees from farming organisations. In 1999, another change was made, with  the number of representatives from each sector reduced to five.

Most recently, in December 2010, representatives of environmental groups were included in the NESC. Currently there are 33 members - eight Government nominees, five Secretary Generals from Government departments, and four representatives nominated by each of the following groups - business organisations, trade unions, farming organisations, community and voluntary groups, and environmental groups.

The NESC and its sister organisations

To complement the NESC, in 1993 the Government established  the National Economic and Social Forum (NESF), which advised Government on how to combat long-term unemployment; and, from 1997, on how to achieve greater equality and social inclusion in Government policies. The National Centre for Partnership and Performance (NCPP) was then set up in 2001, to monitor and promote partnership at enterprise and organisational level.  In 2004, the Government decided to link these three partnership bodies within the new National Economic and Social Development Office (NESDO), and legislation on this was passed in 2006.  In 2010, the Government decided to further streamline the work of policy advice within NESDO by amalgamating the three organisations, through absorbing the NESF and the NCPP into the NESC. As a result, staff from the NESF and the NCPP moved to work in the NESC; and the NESC will ensure that appropriate aspects of the work of the NESF and NCPP are incorporated into its new programme.