A review of policy coherence in three environmental policy areas in Ireland

This paper reviews policy coherence in Ireland in respect of water, the circular economy and the bioeconomy. Policy coherence refers to the systematic promotion of mutually reinforcing policy actions across government in order to achieve agreed objectives. Policy coherence supports better governance. It has become prominent in the area of sustainable development as it is seen as critical to delivering on the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, and ultimately better outcomes for citizens. The paper uses the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s recommendation on policy coherence for sustainable development as a framework of analysis in reviewing policy coherence in the three environmental policy areas. The paper concludes that Ireland is performing reasonably well in some aspects of policy coherence, for example there is a general orienting of government policy towards sustainable development, and some good examples of stakeholder engagement. However, a concerted effort is required to achieve the sort of policy coherence necessary to deliver transformative improvements in respect of water, the circular economy and the bioeconomy.