Financial measures of growth do not tell full story, says Cori

A call for the Government to measure social and environmental variables such as unpaid work or the use of natural resources has been made by the Justice Commission of Conference of Religious of Ireland (Cori).

Writing in the commission's latest policy briefing, due to be published today, Fr Seán Healy said current Government financial accounts do not reflect "fundamentals such as environmental or social sustainability".

Fr Healy, who addressed Fianna Fáil on social responsibility at its think-in in Co Cork last summer, said predictions of a population increase of 500,000 people over the next six or seven years had huge implications for social justice.

Issues such as housing, transport, education and health services for the increased population would create "major implications for Ireland's development", he said. Urging the Government to develop an additional set of accounts that would go beyond the purely financial, Fr Healy said there was a need to devise a system separate to "money-measured growth" which would address sustainable development. Fr Healy wrote: "Cori Justice Commission believes that this population expansion necessitates the development of long-term planning. Rather than cope with the implications of this population once it has happened, we believe it is important to begin to plan now for its arrival." It will be crucial that the issues of environmental, economic and social sustainability be firmly at the core of the decision-making process, according to Fr Healy.

Cori is one of the organisations that negotiated the past three national agreements. It represents more than 135 religious congregations.