NESC is funded through the Department of the Taoiseach. Its annual accounts are audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General, and are laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas.

Governance and Financial Reporting

NESDO is committed to attaining the highest standard of corporate governance within the organisation. The overall governance and control framework within NESDO is guided by compliance with the NESDO Act 2006 and the Provisions of the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies (2016).

During 2022, given the introduction of NESDO’s Blended Working policy, particular emphasis continued on monitoring the control environment operating in NESDO, focusing on financial and data management.

Risk Management

The effective management of organisational risk requires robust control processes to support NESDO and the Board in achieving NESDO’s objectives. Risk and control functions are established in the role of an Audit & Risk Committee appointed by the Board, who review performance and risk matters, including policy and practice. NESDO has an established Risk Register which is reviewed and approved at regular intervals by the Audit & Risk Committee.

Public Sector Duty

The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act (2014) requires that NESDO conducts an assessment of the human rights and equality issues it believes to be relevant to its own functions and purpose; set out the policies, plans and actions already in place or otherwise proposed to be put in place to address these issues; and report on developments and achievements regarding the Public Sector Duty in its annual report.

Ethics in Public Office Legislation

For the year ended 31 December 2024, NESDO can confirm that a Code of Conduct for staff members was in place and adhered to. Furthermore, all relevant staff complied with their statutory responsibilities under the Ethics in Public Office legislation.

Protected Disclosures

NESDO/NESC, through its Management Board and supported by its Corporate Affairs Division, is committed to fostering an appropriate environment for addressing concerns and supporting its workers in ‘speaking-up’ relating to potential wrongdoing in the workplace and to providing the necessary support for workers who raise genuine concerns.

A protected disclosure is a disclosure of information which, in the reasonable belief of a worker of NESDO/NESC, tends to show one or more relevant wrongdoings that came to the attention of the worker in a work-related context and is disclosed in the manner prescribed in the Protected Disclosures Act.

Under the Protected Disclosures Act, workers of NESDO/NESC include employees, research contractors, probationers, job applicants, interns and TY students. The Act covers current and former workers of NESDO/NESC.

NESDO/NESC has procedures in place for protected disclosures (see our ‘Policy on Protected Disclosures’ by clicking here) that have been developed in line with the Protected Disclosures Act 2014.

Section 22 of the Protected Disclosures Act requires that annual reports be published in relation to disclosures received by NESDO/NESC from its workers.

NESDO received no protected disclosures in 2024.

Freedom of Information

NESDO received no Freedom of Information (FOI) requests in 2024.

Offsetting Emissions Associated with Official Air Travel

In line with provisions of Circular 01/2020, NESDO recorded the following Emissions associated with official air travel usage for 2024 as follows:

• The total kilometres travelled via flights: 11152
• The tonnes of CO2 applicable 2006: 1.2006
• Amount remitted to the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications: €58.23

The AIE Regulations 2007 to 2014 gives citizens the right to access information on the environment from public authorities.

Under the Regulations, information relating to the environment held by, or for, a public authority must, subject to certain exceptions, be provided on request to any person.

The Regulations provide a definition of environmental information and outline the manner in which requests for information should be provided to public authorities. The Regulations also provide for a formal appeals procedure in the event that a person is unhappy with a decision on their request.

Requests under the AIE Regulations should be provided to the public authority concerned.

The AIE Regulations provide a definition of environmental information; outline the manner in which requests for information may be submitted to public authorities; and the manner in which public authorities are required to deal with requests (e.g. timeframes for response). The regulations also provide for a formal appeals procedure in the event that a person is unhappy with a decision on their request.

How to make an AIE application

Applications for Access to Information on the Environment should be made to:

AIE Officer
National Economic and Social Development Office
16 Parnell Square East
Dublin 1

When making a request for information under the Access to Information on the Environment Regulations you are required to:

• state that the application is being made under the AIE Regulations and submit it in writing or electronic form (info@nesc.ie);
• provide your contact details; and
• state, in terms that are as specific as possible, the environmental information required, and specify the form and manner of access desired.

Normally you will be notified of the decision on your request within 1 month of its receipt.

Fees

There is no initial fee for making an application under the AIE Regulations. However, a public authority may charge a reasonable fee for supplying the information requested. This may include the costs of compiling, copying, printing or posting of information.

• Search, retrieval and copying of records: €20.00 per hour;
• Photocopying: €0.04 per sheet depending on the volume of information contained in the request;
• A CD-ROM: €10.00

There is no charge for applying for an internal review.

It costs €150 to take an appeal to the Commissioner for Environmental Information, or €50 if you are the holder, or dependent of a holder of a medical card, or a third party appealing the decision to release certain information.

Requirements for dealing with requests

In general, a public authority is required to respond to an AIE request within one month of receipt of the request. Where, due to the complexity or volume of information required, a public authority is unable to respond within the one month timeframe, they are required to write to the applicant within the month, indicating when a response will issue. This date should not be more than two months from the receipt of the original request.

If the public authority does not have the information requested, it can either transfer the request to another public authority or advise the applicant of where it believes the request should be directed. In either case, it is required to notify the applicant.

Grounds for refusing information

There are a number of grounds on which a public authority can refuse information; these include when a body is acting in a legislative or judicial capacity (Article 3(2)) and both mandatory (Article 8) and discretionary (Article 9) grounds for refusing information. When making a decision on whether to release information, a public body is required to consider the provisions in Article 10.

Appealing a decision

Under Article 11 of the AIE Regulations you have a right to seek an internal review of the initial decision. You may also request an internal review if you have not received a response within the appropriate timeframe. An internal review must be requested within one month of receipt of the original decision (the public authority may extend this timeframe but is not required to do so). There is no charge for requesting an internal review.

An internal review involves a complete reconsideration of the matter by a member of the staff of the public authority, who may affirm, vary or annul the original decision made.

A written outcome of the review informing you of the decision, the reason for the decision, and information on your right of appeal to the Commissioner for Environmental Information (including the time limits and fees associated with such an appeal) will be issued to you within one month of the date of receipt of the request for the review.

If you are not satisfied with the outcome of the internal review, you can appeal to the Commissioner for Environmental Information (CEI). You must appeal within one month of receiving the decision on the internal review from the public authority. However, the Commissioner may extend this time limit in individual cases.

Further Information

Further general information on the European Communities (Access to Information on the Environment) Regulations, including background information on the legislation, useful publications and links to other relevant bodies, is available at www.dccae.gov.ie.

Please see our full list of supplier payment reports going back to 2012 here.

So far in 2026 NESC has published work on AI and social cohesion, as we prepare to host an EU Presidency event in November of this year.

In 2025 our focus was on a programme of work analysing the energy transition in Ireland, which resulted in five interrelated Council Reports and which you can learn more about by clicking here. Alongside this project were individual reports on the topics of compact growth and demography.

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. Towards a National Better Work Strategy and Boosting Ireland’s Housing Supply: Modern Methods of Construction followed in July and September, respectively.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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