Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I understand entirely and the Deputy makes a very valid point. The problem lies in the practicality of organising a structure that would accommodate these types of scenario. It seems that a volunteer who sees wrongdoing in an organisation for which he or she is working is very likely to expose it. There would not be great pressure on such an individual not to do so in terms of damage to promotion prospects or anything like this. Giving volunteers access to the Labour Court would not be of great advantage to them or confer great additional protection. What could volunteers hope to achieve from such an appeal other than confirmation that they are still entitled to be a volunteer?

I assume that for a volunteer in a charitable organisation, the people to go would be the charitable organisers who would be scandalised if the organisation were to take action against a volunteer simply for pointing to wrongdoing. The difficulty with the Deputy's proposal lies simply in the practicality of finding a set of remedies that would fit into the scheme of remedies operated by the Labour Court. Is there detriment for volunteers akin to unfair dismissal or discrimination in the workplace? It seems that volunteers do not fit readily into that architecture, which is also the view taken internationally.