Social partnership is the process by which issues of social policy are negotiated and agreed between the Government and the social partners. The social partners are made up of four pillars – Employers, Trade Unions, Farmers and Community & Voluntary. Social partnership has been a key element of the policy making process in Ireland since the development of the first social partnership agreement, The Programme for National Recovery, in 1987. The Society of St Vincent de Paul became involved in the social partnership process during the 1996 negotiations for Partnership 2000 when the Community and Voluntary pillar joined the other social partners for the first time.