State risks polarisation and division as misinformation grows, warns Taoiseach

The Republic risks becoming more polarised as misinformation and divisive politics pose a growing threat to social solidarity and evidence-based policymaking, according to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.

He was speaking at a conference to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the National Economic and Social Council (NESC) in Dublin Castle on Thursday. The council, whose members include representatives of employers, trade unions, environmental organisations as well as independent experts, advises the Government on pressing social, economic and environmental issues.

Mr Varadkar said the work of the council has shaped Irish policy for decades in a very positive way and helped produced a “thriving state”. He said the council’s approach to problem-solving complex policy issues, based on research and dialogue, was the “opposite of polarisation” evident worldwide.

“It has allowed for challenges to be reframed, a common understanding [to be] developed among stakeholders and alternative policy solutions to be considered,” he said.

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“We now live in an age where information is abundant. But wisdom is scarce. We’re inundated with misinformation and disinformation. We are facing and are going to face increasingly divisive politics, opinions and attitudes. Sadly, I believe we’re going to become more polarised,” he said.

“So, therefore, objective analysis, and evidence-based policymaking becomes all the more essential and all the more valuable,” he said. “It is in many ways the opposite of the polarisation that we’re seeing across the world at the moment.”

He pointed to influential council reports over the years which have left a positive legacy. They included a review of industrial policy in 1982 which found that “Ireland was missing a trick” and advocated a more targeted approach to foreign direct investment. This, he said, helped pave the way for the country’s economic transformation.

In addition, he said the 2005 report on the “developmental welfare State” laid the groundwork of a more modern welfare State focused on labour activation, training and access to education, health and childcare supports.

Mr Varadkar also referenced a recent NESC report which asked whether Ireland was thriving by measuring a range of social, economic and wellbeing indicators.

He said its findings — that Ireland was thriving in many aspects, but faced capacity, distributional and environmental challenges — pointed to a “fair assessment” of where Ireland stands.

Mr Varadkar said the Government was committed to making use of a new “wellbeing framework” as it looked to improve the quality of life of citizens, along with measures to tackle child poverty and ensure all citizens have access to pensions and better social safety nets.

A big challenge ahead, the Taoiseach said, was on climate action and a just transition in the area of agriculture and food production, which represented an “enormous” political challenge.

He said the council has engaged in extensive research with the goal of reducing emissions, meeting our environmental targets and simultaneously ensuring social inclusivity and the economic viability of agriculture and the land use sector.

Dr Cathal FitzGerald, senior analyst at NESC, said the council’s 50th anniversary said the council’s work has had an impact because it considers the economic, social, and environmental aspects of the State all equally important, as well as providing valuable advice.

He said the council’s ongoing work produces definitive advice and proposals that ultimately go to the Taoiseach, Government, and throughout the wider policy system.

“The challenges to a thriving Ireland are complex and interdependent, and the solutions require wide and inclusive dialogue among stakeholders to achieve buy-in for the level of change required,” he said.

“[The] NESC has provided the space for that dialogue for five decades, and our work continues to be solution-focused, aimed at finding learnings and agreed viewpoints and delivering concrete policy proposals.”