Ireland and Europe 2020 Strategy: Employment, Education and Poverty

This report was compiled by Social Justice Ireland in light of the Europe 2020 Strategy and its high-level targets, and of Ireland’s National Reform Programme, which sets out Ireland’s response to achieving those targets. The report covers three of the five headline targets established in the Europe 2020 Strategy, namely, employment, education and ‘poverty and social exclusion’. Our findings include that the policies being pursued by government are resulting in the further exclusion of people who already find themselves on the margins of society and pushing Ireland further away from reaching many of its national targets under the Europe 2020 Strategy. Current trends in Irish public policy are running counter to the promotion of ‘inclusive growth,’ which is one of the three key priorities which underlie the Europe 2020 Strategy. Inclusive growth is not just about fostering a high-employment economy, it also aims to deliver social cohesion – it is integral to the Europe 2020 strategy and needs to be integral to the response of the Irish Government.