COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, September 08, 2025

QUESTION NO. 37

QUESTION: Councillor F. Timmons

To ask the Chief Executive what efforts he has made to promote and progress SDCC Fairtrade as per motion agreed in the County Development Plan 2022 - 2028?

REPLY:

The feasibility of South Dublin being designated as a fair trade County has being examined in conjunction with South Dublin Chamber. The Chamber undertook direct industry engagement and follow up analysis which has informed the Council’s position on this matter. 

The analysis determined that there exists a great deal of support and goodwill towards fair trade, ethical and fair-traded products from the business community in South Dublin County. It is also clear that most businesses have the purchase of fair trade and ethically sourced products as part of their own programmes and processes, with many having this engagement as part of their wider commitments. These wider commitments extend to the UN SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) Climate Change programmes and their own local and worldwide ESG (Environmental Social Governance) programmes.

Businesses, driven by both internal commitments and national and EU regulations, are addressing multiple environmental and social objectives, which are much broader in their impact rather than looking at fair trade in isolation. From the analysis undertaken, it is acknowledged that while fair trade is recognised as important, it has been surpassed by more unified ESG initiatives and businesses prefer to integrate it within their broader sustainability strategies rather than focus on a single centralised fair trade initiative at the county or town level.

With this in mind, it is not the intention of the Council to pursue a designation as a fair trade County and instead it will seek to realise the objectives of the SDGs through the implementation of its Corporate Plan and County Development Plan, which will provide for a much broader and integrated approach to meeting its sustainability ambitions.