Colette Bennett joined NESC as a Policy Analyst in 2025. Prior to this role, she held senior level positions in advocacy and policy analysis in the Community and Voluntary Sector for almost 20 years. She has extensive experience in evidence-based analysis across policy areas such as poverty, consumer debt, social exclusion, housing, migration, public participation, and the Sustainable Development Goals.
Colette is currently leading the Council’s work on Social Cohesion, which includes the production of a major report on the topic; facilitating stakeholder workshops and research engagements; co-authoring the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) Reflection Paper on Social Cohesion; and organising the Annual Meeting of the EESC and National Economic and Social Councils, with a major conference on Social Cohesion in Dublin Castle as part of the official agenda of Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
She has an MA in Social Justice and Public Policy from All Hallows College (DCU) (2013), a Professional Practice Certificate from the Law Society of Ireland (2007) and is a PhD candidate in the UCD School of Social Policy, Social Work and Social Justice. Colette is also a member of the Royal Irish Academy Social Sciences Committee.
Email: colette.bennett@nesc.ie