Mark Wall (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I wish to be associated with the remarks of the previous two speakers in welcoming representatives of both The Wheel and Community Gardens Ireland. I thank them very much for their presentations.

I wish to be associated with the words of Deputy Carey on what community and voluntary organisations have done for us all during the pandemic. I am always struck by the volunteerism of so many people who have gone out of their way, particularly in rural Ireland but also in urban Ireland, to look after their communities. That is an important point to make.

I was particularly struck by the fact that 160,000 people are employed in the sector. Given what we have come through because of the pandemic, which I hope will be over soon, are there concerns in The Wheel that some jobs will be lost, or are there concerns over where they will go? How can we go about protecting as many of the 160,000 people employed in the sector as possible? Perhaps Dr. Garvey might comment on that and on what we need to do to sustain and perhaps increase the number. The number of people involved and employed in the sector is amazing.

I have done a great deal of work with voluntary groups and community groups on compliance. Will Dr. Garvey comment on the cost? She mentioned that the cost of compliance is quite considerable. Perhaps she could get a figure for us that we could discuss in our budget discussions in the context of what would be involved for all in the community and voluntary organisations.

I want to touch on insurance, which Deputy Carey also touched on. I appreciate the reply but insurance is a major area of concern for many voluntary and community groups. Unfortunately, there have been many increases in the cost of insurance. I have noted them over recent months. Could the witnesses comment on the increases? A local community hall I am involved with has seen its insurance cost increase by nearly 50% in the past couple of years, which is not sustainable in any way, shape or form. We need to address that.

With regard to Community Gardens Ireland, I discovered gardening four to five years ago and can attest to everything the witnesses said about its benefits and the link between it and mental health. Anybody involved in gardening switches off. That is the main point I discovered. It is about getting your hands dirty. There is a considerable mental health benefit that we need to exploit. Particularly as we come out of the pandemic, there will be many mental health issues. We can address so many of them by increasing the number of community garden space available to citizens.

I was particularly struck by a remark made by Mr. Ray D'Arcy on one of his shows recently. He mentioned that, as with many people, he had been out walking in a forest and suggested that every large town and urban area should have a forest or garden area to which people could go. I thought it was a wonderful idea. So many people have been going to such places during the pandemic. Maybe this is an idea we can tap into. The Kildare county development plan, which is my local development plan, is open for submissions. I fed into the process with this idea and the idea on community gardens. It is disgraceful that there is no countrywide policy, as has been mentioned. The mental health benefits of community gardens far outweigh concerns regarding licence agreements, etc. There are lands available other than local authority lands. I am involved with a community garden that is looking to HSE land because there are opportunities in that regard. Other agencies in the State can provide land. What would the €500,000 in funding mentioned in the presentation mean? How many gardens and other such initiatives could be accommodated with this funding? It is important that we support Community Gardens Ireland in all its great work.