Social Enterprises are businesses whose core objective is to achieve a social, societal or environmental impact. Like other businesses, social enterprises trade in goods or services on an ongoing basis. However, any surpluses they generate are re-invested into achieving a social impact.

The draft National Social Enterprise Policy for Ireland 2024-2027 – Public Consultation Document

Informed by the experience gained in the period since the first social enterprise policy was introduced, feedback received from stakeholder engagement, the evidence base provided by the 2023 Baseline Data Collection Exercise on Social Enterprise and by the recent recommendations of the OECD1 and NESC2 reviews of social enterprise in Ireland, the following five thematic objectives have been selected under which the new policy will be outlined:

Policy Objective

1. Building Awareness of Social Enterprises
2. Growing Social Enterprise
3. Climate Action Contribution
4. National and International Engagement
5. Data Collection and Social Impact Measurement