Ms Bernie Meally:

On the first question about volunteers, Foróige engages approximately 5,500 volunteers a year to work with more than 50,000 young people. The majority of the young people engagement is done through volunteer-led services, whether that be Foróige clubs or Big Brother, Big Sister. We also have volunteers engaged with our very targeted services. Those volunteers are highly skilled in working with young people, supporting them to build skills and capacity. Another important thing is building their connections to their community. That is particularly relevant in what we are discussing today because if you have young people who have a safe place to hang out in their community and they feel connected to the other adults in their community and have a space to experiment, learn, grow and develop and to engage in educational as well as recreational programmes, then they are less likely to go on to be involved in antisocial or criminal behaviour. We are hugely indebted to our team of volunteers who support youth work across the country and not just in Foróige. A huge number of youth work organisations depend on those volunteers. Throughout the pandemic, so for the last two years, a large army of volunteers has continued to support young people during one of the most difficult times they or we have experienced. They have engaged in digital services and supports with young people and have been a lifeline for many.

Recruitment is always a challenge. We are now about to go back out to the communities. Some clubs and groups have taken a bit of a pause and some have lost volunteers for various reasons during the pandemic but we are embarking on a national campaign to try to raise awareness of our organisation and the value of volunteering. We are having a great response so far. People will see a lot of ads on social media and advertising locally and nationally calling out for volunteers. It is a really important element of universal youth work in this country which has huge benefits for preventing -----