Midland Farmer - Spring 2024

Spring 2024
Ireland ranks 8 out of 14 EU
countries for sustainable progress
Ireland has ranked in
eighth place out of 14 comparable
EU countries in
this year’s Sustainable
Progress Index report
released last Tuesday, February
20 by Social Justice
Ireland.
The report entitled ‘Measuring
Progress: Sustainable
Progress Index 2024’ ranked
14 comparable EU countries
based on their delivery of
the UN’s Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs).
Sweden ranked the highest
for sustainable progress
index ratings, followed by
Denmark; Netherlands; Finland;
Austria; Germany;
Luxembourg; Ireland; Belgium;
France; Portugal;
Italy; Spain; and Greece. The
report looked at 17 SDGs,
with 83 indicators overall
and covered the social, economic
and environmental
aspects of sustainability
reflected in Agenda 2030.
Ireland ranked at number
nine out of the 14 countries
in the economy section. On
the social index, Ireland is in
the middle of the ranking, in
7th place.
Ireland ranked 11th on the
environment index, according
to the report.
The score has improved on
some environmental SDGs,
such as on SDG 11 ‘sustainable
cities and communities’.
However, “poor performance”
can be seen on goals
relating to water quality,
affordable and clean energy,
responsible production and
consumption, and climate
change, according to the
report.
Ireland ranked 11th for
clean water and sanitation;
14th for affordable and clean
energy; second for sustainable
cities and communities;
10th for responsible consumption
and production;
ninth for climate action;
eight for life below water;
and seventh for life on land.
Research and policy analyst
with Social Justice Ireland,
Michelle Murphy said:
“At the midpoint of the
implementation of the 2030
agenda, a reality check
reveals significant challenges
are still evident in
meeting some of the environment
goals.
“Ireland is still seriously
underperforming in areas
such as affordable energy,
clean water, innovation and
infrastructure, gender
equality, and sustainable
agriculture.
“This is dragging our overall
ranking down even
though we are performing
well in some areas. We are
failing to balance core essentials
such as economic and
social progress, sustaining
the planet’s environment
and resources and combatting
climate change.” .
MIDLAND FARMER
9% increase in people
working in agriculture
The number of people
employed in the
agriculture, forestry
and fishing sector
increased by around
9% in the fourth
quarter (Q4) of 2023
when compared to
the same period in
the previous year.
That is according to
the latest Labour
Force Survey published
last Thursday,
February 22 by the
Central Statistics
Office (CSO).
The figures show
that 112,900 people
were employed in the
sector in Q4 2023
which is up by 9,300
year-on-year.However,
it is down from the
114,700 working in the
sector in the previous
quarter.
Agriculture,
forestry and fishing
was among the economic
sectors that
saw the largest percentage
increase yearon-year
in people
employed. The CSO
data shows that 97,500
males aged between
15 and 89 years were
employed in the agriculture,
forestry and
fishing sector in Q4
2023.
This is up from
86,000 in the corresponding
quarter in
2022, but is down
slightly on Q3 2023
when 97,300 males
were working in the
sector. 15,400 females
were working in agriculture,
forestry and
fishing in Q4 2023,
which is down by
over 2,000 when compared
with the same
period in the previous
year (17,600).
The southwest was
the region with the
highest number of
people employed in
agriculture, forestry
and fishing at 24,500.
This was followed by
the border region
(19,200), the southeast
(16,900) and the west
(15,000).
Overall, the
CSO
data
shows
that the
number of
people aged 15-89
years in
employment
stood at
2,706,400 in
Q4 2023. This
marks an
increase of
5
3.4% or 89,600 more
people in work when
compared to 12
months earlier.
The employment
rate for people aged
15-64 years was 74%
in Q4 2023. There
were 117,700 unemployed
people aged 15-
74 years in the period,
giving an unemployment
rate of 4.2%, up
from 4.1% in Q4 2022.
The unemployment
rate among those
aged 15-24 years (the
youth unemployment
rate) was 9.4% in Q4
2023, up from 9.1% in
Q4 2022. There were
29,500 people in longterm
unemployment
(unemployed for 12
months or longer) in
Q4 2023 . This was a
decrease of 4,900
people from Q4
2022.