Michael McCarthy (Cork South West, Labour)
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The joint committee will now consider the topic of volunteering and community development with representatives of Volunteer Ireland. I welcome to the meeting Ms Yvonne McKenna, chief executive officer, Ms Tricia Nolan, manager, South Dublin County Volunteer Centre, and Mr. John Cotterell, manager of Louth Volunteer Centre and Volunteer Ireland board member, on behalf of Volunteer Ireland. They are all welcome and members appreciate their attendance.
I wish to advise the witnesses that by virtue of section 17(2)(l) of the Defamation Act 2009, witnesses are protected by absolute privilege in respect of their evidence to the committee. However, if a witness is directed by the committee to cease giving evidence in regard to a particular matter and continues to do so, the witness is entitled thereafter only to a qualified privilege in respect of his or her evidence.

Witnesses are directed that only evidence connected with the subject matter of these proceedings is to be given and are asked to respect the parliamentary practice to the effect that, where possible, they should not criticise or make charges against any person, persons or entity by name or in such a way as to make him, her or it identifiable. The opening statement and any other documentation the witnesses provide to the committee may be published on the committee's website after the meeting concludes. Members are reminded of the long-standing parliamentary practice to the effect that they should not comment on, criticise or make charges against a person outside the Houses or an official either by name or in such a way as to make him or her identifiable.

More than most, all here are aware of volunteerism. It permeates through all of our different communities. Particularly at times of economic difficulties, volunteerism is much more visible and appreciated, and there is a bigger demand for it. As a race, we have this sense of belonging. Everybody one knows is involved in an organisation, be it a GAA club, a political party, the Red Cross or the IFA. As an Irish person, one has this huge sense of belonging but also a huge contribution to give to so many voluntary organisations.

We are looking forward to the exchange this afternoon. No doubt it will be productive. I now call on Ms McKenna to make her opening statement.

Ms Yvonne McKenna:

I thank the committee for the positive response to our request to make a presentation. I am the chief executive of Volunteer Ireland and I am here together with Ms Nolan and Mr. Cotterell.

Volunteer Ireland is the national volunteer development agency and also a support body for local volunteer centres in Ireland and volunteering information services. We exist to increase awareness of volunteering, access to volunteering and quality in volunteering. We are here to talk to the committee today because we see this as a crucial moment with respect to the supports that we give to volunteering in Ireland.

It is the third time that we have spoken here. The first time was in 2003, and on foot of that meeting there was an announcement of a package of measures to support volunteering. It was the beginning of a strategic approach to supporting volunteering in Ireland through the development of volunteering infrastructure. We came here again in 2009 to talk to members as the country was slipping further into recession and to describe its impact on volunteering and highlight the importance of supporting volunteering through the recession. We are here today, hopefully, also at a crucial moment, as we turn the corner on the recession and come out of it, to seek the committee's support with respect to continuing to support volunteering but also to highlight some of the impact of the recession on supporting volunteering and the volunteering infrastructure.

Since the recession, we experienced an increase in the demand for volunteering roles, as the Chairman pointed out, of almost 100%, and that has remained consistently high. We are still experiencing many who want to volunteer and want to give to their community, and could also be seeking to develop their employability skills or seeking to make a positive change in their community. At the same time, the community and voluntary sector has experienced significant cuts and an increased demand for services. In that context, we are trying to support community and voluntary organisations to be better at involving volunteers and to be more creative about those volunteering roles.

As volunteer infrastructure, between ourselves and the volunteer centres, there have been near consistent cuts since 2009 and we are at a stage where any further cuts will cause unprecedented damage to the services that we can provide. In one sense, we are looking for the committee's support and a stay of execution with respect to the cuts being imposed.

More importantly, we also want to seek the committee's support. This committee, as I have outlined, has had a significant positive impact on supporting volunteering and we come to seek its support with respect to one issue, which is a policy for volunteering. The Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government has committed to developing a policy that will support volunteering and from our perspective, two years down the road that policy has not yet been forthcoming. We believe a national policy should provide national objectives against which the achievements of the volunteering infrastructure could be set and evaluated. It is really in relation to those matters about which we are here to talk to the committee today. Obviously, we provided a submission in advance. I might hand over now to Ms Nolan who will speak about what we do and the outcomes we seek.

Ms Patricia Nolan:

As Ms McKenna stated, I am the manager of the South Dublin County Volunteer Centre.
In times of ever-dwindling resources, in some ways it is incumbent on us to deliver a bang for our buck, particularly as we are in organisations in receipt of public funds. Ms McKenna spoke about the funding issues that affect us as a network but one aspect I want to speak about is our value for money as a network. I will highlight some of the outputs that we measure as a network of 21 volunteer centres and Volunteer Ireland, and then Mr. Cotterell will speak about some of the impacts, which we can see and which are not as easy to measure.
Over the past years one of our main achievements as a national network has been to build from the ground up a national database for volunteering which we called I-VOL. We have done this at little or no cost to the Exchequer. It is a database donated to us by a company called Salesforce and it is worth in excess of €150,000 in in-kind funding.
We built I-VOL as a searchable database for volunteering. It allows potential volunteers to view opportunities to volunteer around them, right down to their local town. It can be accessed on the website, volunteer.ie, or one can look at it on any volunteer centre website. If one has time, one can download our smartphone application, app, for volunteering, called I-VOL, which was developed by a volunteer from the Institute of Technology Tallaght.
As well as allowing potential volunteers to view opportunities and to register with their local centre, I-VOL allows organisations to register online and register their volunteering opportunities. It provides the match between volunteers and organisations. Crucially, it also allows us to track trends and statistics in volunteering. I thought I might present some of the startling statistics from 2013 that we have measured.
In 2013, some 14,953 new volunteers registered on I-VOL for the first time, either through I-VOL or through their local volunteer centre. These were all new volunteers who were registering for the first time. A further 2,500 volunteers from previous years re-engaged with centres and came back looking for more support and new opportunities to volunteer. Therefore, 17,500 volunteers in total were supported across the network of centres. Over 6,500 volunteer roles were filled. These are volunteer roles that we know of, those who have come back to us stating that they have started volunteering in an organisation doing a piece of work. We do not hear back from many of the volunteers who we refer on to organisations and start, I suppose, because our job is done.
One aspect we are able to measure with volunteers who have started is the amount of hours they commit to volunteering. In 2013, we recorded over 500,000 volunteer hours. These are not cumulative hours. These are hours that are recorded by volunteers who registered in 2013 and started volunteering in 2013, and we are not counting the volunteers who started volunteering in 2012, 2011, etc. It is the international standard to measure a volunteer by the average industrial wage, and if one multiplies those 500,000 hours by the average industrial wage, the result is the equivalent of over €11 million in return on investment. One should note that the budget for the infrastructure to support 21 centres and Volunteer Ireland is €2 million and yet we are giving back in one fell swoop over €11 million worth of volunteering hours. This is the equivalent of 300 full-time workers who we would have to put in place to replace the volunteers who have begun volunteering.
Startlingly, 71% of volunteers registered with us are under 35 years of age and 62% who have come to us have never volunteered previously. Another point to note is that organisations are supported by us and are registered on our database. In 2013, over 900 new organisations registered for volunteers bringing the total amount of volunteer organisations that we support across Ireland to 7,000.
If one were to go onto I-VOL today, one would see over 3,000 active volunteer opportunities for potential volunteers to browse through. These are national statistics and we can break these down into local statistics. If a member would like to find local statistics about volunteering trends in their county, we would be happy to provide them. I would highlight that this is only a taste of what we measure and it does not show the other work that we do.
We also provide training and supports to not-for-profit organisations on volunteer management and good practice.

Sometimes we might say it is not always as difficult to get volunteers as it is to retain them in organisations. Therefore, much of the work we do at local level is to help organisations to develop their capacity to retain volunteers once they have started. We work with corporates also to support them in volunteering as part of their corporate social responsibility programmes. Volunteer Ireland runs a series of inspiration days to support corporates to volunteer.

Local volunteer centres have taken on the role of providing a Garda vetting service to local and small not-for-profits that cannot gain access to Garda vetting themselves. Recently, we have been approached by the Department of Social Protection and now we are providing vetting for all the CE programmes nationally, in addition to providing vetting for small local organisations. In excess of 500 organisations are accessing Garda vetting through their local volunteer centre.

We also run promotional events and campaigns on volunteering, including National Volunteering Week, local outreach programmes and the Ireland Involved awards. We have developed and implement quality standards, not only for volunteer centres but also in respect of organisations that involve volunteers.

It can be clearly seen that from the relatively small amount of money invested in the volunteering infrastructure, we provide a great return. I will hand over to Mr. Cotterell, who will talk about the phenomena that are not easily measured, the impacts.

Mr. John Cotterell:

I am the manager of Louth Volunteer Centre. I want to give members an example of how one of their constituents might avail of the services of the centre. This is very pertinent to Deputy Nash, who is based in Louth.

William, who is mentioned in the case study, ran a jewellery business for years but unfortunately had to give up because he suffered a bout of depression. He was referred to the volunteer centre by the HSE. In this regard, we are linked to the occupational support therapists. When we met William at the volunteer centre, he told us he did not know there was an opportunity to volunteer. When we sat down with him, we listened to his story as to where he was coming from and his skills and interests. The key role of the volunteer centre is to make it easier for people to volunteer. We connect people with opportunities based on what is suitable for them.

William did not want to make a long-term commitment. Therefore, when he was starting off, we got him to volunteer as part of an opportunity that arose for us called the Lens A Hand photography exhibition. Basically, it is capturing the spirit of volunteering in Louth. We had many photographs of different people in Louth volunteering. We showed them in different shopping centres to get people to think about volunteering. The hope was that seeing smiles would inspire people to do something themselves.

A key part of the centre's function is selling volunteering. People ask what is in it for them. As members will know from their constituents, many people who are unemployed, retired or not feeling part of the community need to be sold the concept of volunteering by us. It is a key role of the centre.

Since William's volunteering went so well, we ended up connecting him to Action Against Addiction. Deputy Nash is probably familiar with this. It supports young people who suffer from addiction. The organisation has a shop and recycles. William is now teaching young people the skill of jewellery-making, which was his business before he had to give it up.

William told me just last week that volunteering gives him a sense of worth despite his having been out of work for so long. He is able to give something by passing on his skills. Furthermore, he is keeping busy and learning himself. Since he does not have much involvement with people, this is a great way for him to meet people and have a bit of a laugh. The key to volunteering is feeling connected to one's community.

What I have described is the perspective of the volunteer but one must also consider the impact of volunteers such as William on the community. For example, an older person might look forward to receiving a weekly visit, and a young child might get a boost of confidence from earning a badge in the Scouts. The various organisations and community groups cannot exist without volunteers. This is why the critical role of the volunteer centres and Volunteer Ireland is associated with offering support and letting people know what is available and what is going on. We support the organisations to ensure each volunteer feels his time is valued. Thus, volunteers stay with their organisation and continue volunteering.

Ms Yvonne McKenna:

I will highlight a point made by Mr. Cotterell. We should remind ourselves of the true value of volunteering. Mr. Cotterell gave a great example of an individual. I am quite aware that I am speaking to the converted here. There is nobody in this room who has not arrived at his or her current position without the support of volunteers.

When we take a step back and examine the impact of volunteering, we realise it is good for individual volunteers, the recipients of volunteering, community and voluntary organisations, the sector, the community and society. Recipients of volunteering are those who are receiving direct services from volunteers, including entertainment. Across the gamut, from the most vulnerable to the most invincible, we are all recipients of volunteering whether we know it or not. For the volunteer, volunteering provides an opportunity to express oneself, practice skills and develop new ones. It helps one on the journey towards or out of employment. It is an important element of community development.

What is common across all areas of volunteering, be it fund-raising to develop a website or training a football team, is the connection with other people. Volunteering presents an opportunity for us to become part of something bigger than ourselves. Literally, that is the meaning of life. What keeps us alive is our connection to other people.

The community and voluntary sector would not exist without volunteers. Volunteers are really the research and development element of community and voluntary organisations. They allow us to provide more and better services. When volunteers take on certain roles, there is really no comparison with the paid employee. In that respect, I am thinking of some of the advocacy services, for example.

Volunteering is also important to the recipient community. The extent to which communities have strong networks of volunteers or high levels of volunteering makes them more questioning and also more equal. We should not forget the extent to which volunteers remind us of the kinds of services we otherwise fail to provide. With respect to the State, although we do not measure volunteering in Ireland, we know that in the developed world the value of volunteering is considered to be anything between 2% and 3% of GDP. That is a significant figure for our country. However, it is beyond that as it is what we cannot count that matters. It is no longer radical or outlandish to say GDP is not the only measure of the wealth of a society.

To conclude, it is our belief that we should take volunteering seriously. If we want to do so, we should have a more strategic and structured approach to supporting volunteering. In our mind, that involves protecting what has already been built up and also seeing a future for it with respect to a policy that will set national priorities and objectives on which we can deliver. I thank the members for their time. We are available to take questions or further comments.

Michael McCarthy (Cork South West, Labour)
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I have some questions. I presume that, by definition, volunteer centres are in urban areas. How many volunteer centres are there?

Ms Yvonne McKenna:

There are 21 volunteer centres operating across 17.5 counties. A policy to support volunteer centres, introduced in 2009, envisaged a volunteer centre per county, with the exception of Dublin, where the centres were to be per local authority area. That policy has been on hold since its introduction because of the economic climate. Essentially, the volunteer centres are both urban and rural. They are in 17.5 counties across the country.

Michael McCarthy (Cork South West, Labour)
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I am thinking of my bailiwick in west Cork. It is approximately 120 miles from the south of Cork city to south and west Kerry. There is a considerable number of volunteers, be they in sports, political or other organisations. In any one town, one will note various committees, including for Tidy Towns and the Red Cross. How does one measure the number scientifically? One could say that there are 15,000 volunteers, for example. How does one measure the number in an area that does not have a volunteer centre on its doorstep?

Is there a requirement for the organisation to affiliate itself to Volunteer Ireland?

Ms Yvonne McKenna:

No, there is not. There is a volunteer centre in Cork. The Chairman is right in saying that they will be best known where they are based. They would support all the organisations around Cork through outreach. The figures we are giving the joint committee today are the individuals who have found out about volunteering through us and went through our systems. We do not count the number of organisations that we are supporting at arm's length or who already have their own volunteering networks.

The 15,000 people who will register to volunteer through us this year represent just a drop in the ocean compared to the numbers who want to volunteer and who the volunteer infrastructure will support indirectly.

It would be great if Ireland did count volunteering and we can do that through the census or national quarterly household surveys. If we had a sense of the extent to which volunteering occurs, as well as its outcomes and impact, we would probably take it a lot more seriously than we do.

Michael McCarthy (Cork South West, Labour)
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Ms Nolan mentioned €2 million in funding but is that Exchequer funding?

Ms Tricia Nolan:

Yes.

Michael McCarthy (Cork South West, Labour)
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Does it come through the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government?

Ms Tricia Nolan:

Yes.

Michael McCarthy (Cork South West, Labour)
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What would it have been before?

Ms Tricia Nolan:

It is individual to centres. For example, the centre in south Dublin has had nearly a 45% decrease in funding since the start of the recession. Other centres have had decreases of between 15% and 20% or 25%. It was probably around €3 million before the start of the recession.

Michael McCarthy (Cork South West, Labour)
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I shall now take questions from members. I will call on Senator Landy first because he proposed this meeting.

Denis Landy (Labour)
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I welcome the witnesses and thank them for the presentation. It is important to recognise the outstanding work being done by Volunteer Ireland. The Cathaoirleach asked a number of questions about Volunteer Ireland's location and the fact that it only operates in some counties. I understand that is a funding issue and Volunteer Ireland cannot open centres if it does not have money to do so.

In her paper, Ms Nolan outlined why it is important to have a national policy on volunteering. To act as devil's advocate, I would say it is difficult to publish a policy document to begin such a process due to a funding issue. I would like to get her reaction to that point. I have a series of questions but I will put that one first.

Ms Yvonne McKenna:

We have highlighted that the amount of funding that goes into volunteering infrastructure is not exorbitant. It is public money, however, which needs to be spent in the right way. Even if the amount was kept as it is, therefore, through a national policy we could ensure that it is being spent correctly. We can go through a process of finding out what objectives we are trying to achieve through this. In some ways, the volunteering structure has been a victim of its own success in the sense that when funding first started to be given to it back in 2005, at that point about six volunteer centres were emerging. However, they operated at different levels and did not have a common understanding of what they should be doing. From that time until now - where we have 21 local volunteer centres plus a national organisation - we have developed a way of working which is consistent. We have developed a quality standard framework which assesses volunteer centres and how they operate.

Volunteer centres all have four core principles by which they work, which is to support volunteers and volunteering organisations. However, that is happening in a vacuum with an absence of a national policy and specific objectives. That is why we feel that a policy might assist, so that the achievements of the volunteer infrastructure can be set against those. In that way, we could see where we are going in a few years and if we are achieving what is necessary.

We would like to come here and say that money is required, but it is not just that. Current investment in volunteering should be maintained, while developing a policy or strategy to ensure it is having the maximum impact. That is the point we are trying to make.

Denis Landy (Labour)
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The volunteering sector is allocated €2 million from the Exchequer annually. Is it logical to consider that if one has a policy with no extra money, one can expand Volunteer Ireland's ambit to every county?

In urban or rural communities, most people who use their leisure or family time to volunteer, generally speaking, are involved in the GAA, soccer, rugby, athletics or the swimming club. The quota of voluntary time is more limited because in our own communities we all grow up in various organisations, including the GAA and others. In my case, my volunteer hours were spent on the sports field. Is Volunteer Ireland trying to draw in people who are not already involved or is it trying to divide the time of those who are already involved? If so, is that a difficulty?

My last question concerns public awareness of Volunteer Ireland. It is operational in Tipperary where I come from. I made inquiries prior to this meeting and was surprised by the linkages between organisations and individual volunteers. I attend various events and, to my mind, there is no great awareness of Volunteer Ireland. The bigger question is whether Volunteer Ireland is trying to grab people who are not already involved in other volunteering pursuits - that is, with the mainstream organisations. I know that is a mouthful but perhaps Ms McKenna can try to answer it.

Ms Yvonne McKenna:

I will try. As regards funding, the only policy for volunteering in Ireland is that which supports volunteer centres, which has been on hold since 2009. If that is on hold and we are unlikely to suddenly start investing money in it, what should we be doing otherwise? We are also in a different time, so what can we do with the money invested to ensure that counties without a volunteer centre are also catered for? In addition, how can we fix the somewhat unequal investment across counties?

Many people will not need the support of a volunteering infrastructure. As an individual, if I feel confident about my abilities or if I know what cause or activity I wish to get involved in, the volunteering infrastructure is not necessarily there to help me. We try, however, to get those portions of the population that might not know the benefits of volunteering.

A lot of volunteering in Ireland occurs through organisations. Senator Landy mentioned the GAA, which has a huge presence. Few of those organisations, with the probable exception of the GAA, are established to accept volunteers. They have been set up to achieve aims, including combating homelessness or putting on community fairs. They often require support to ensure they are better at involving volunteers.

Every day, we see organisations that think they cannot ask someone to do something because they are not paying them. Or they may think they cannot ask a volunteer to leave an organisation if it is not going well. We try to build a capacity to encourage and assist organisations to think about involving various kinds of volunteers in different ways.

With respect to the Senator's question, we are not trying to take over what is already happening. We try to assist and support volunteering as it is required. We have worked with the GAA but, with all due respect, it probably does not need our support as much as other types of organisation that may not have volunteer policies or procedures in place. I do not mean that it has to be bureaucratic but instead of thinking one needs a fund-raiser, there may be different roles in which people can be involved, thus operating more broadly in the community as a result. It is not about us trying to take over existing volunteering, but is rather about trying to address the gaps.

Ms Tricia Nolan:

Some 70% of the people who come to us are under 35, yet that is not the breakdown of volunteering in Ireland if one looks at research done in the census.

It is that middle-aged group who traditionally have volunteered to the greatest extent. What we are capturing is young people who may not know how to get involved in a local sports club. We are tapping into younger people a great deal of the time. We have a significant number of non-Irish nationals who come to us to volunteer. They are not connected to their communities in many ways and see volunteering as a way to become connected. They come to it through their local volunteer centres rather than by knowing about a GAA club or other local sports organisation.

Michael McCarthy (Cork South West, Labour)
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The objective proposed of asking the Department to develop a policy is a good one. I will seek agreement from the committee to make that proposal following discussion among the members. I also suggest taking a photograph with the witnesses and formulating a press statement to add to that. It would be a good objective to achieve on foot of this meeting.

Denis Landy (Labour)
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As the member who invited the group to attend, I propose that.

Tony McLoughlin (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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I second the proposal.

Michael McCarthy (Cork South West, Labour)
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When we finish, we might get a photograph with our visitors and add it to the press statement.

Caít Keane (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the witnesses to the committee, in particular Ms Tricia Nolan whom I have known for years in south Dublin and through volunteering. The year 2003 was mentioned. It was the year I was mayor and I placed particular emphasis on volunteering in south Dublin. I thank Ms Nolan for flying the flag well in south Dublin. Ms McKenna has nothing to worry about in that area.

There was a reference to 21 volunteering centres, but I thought there were 23. Did two close down? Can the witnesses say a little more about support and disproportionality? Where is it coming? There is a manager from Louth and another from south Dublin present here. All the heads of all 23 organisations come together as a group to co-ordinate activities. Where is the disproportionality evident? What can we or other parties do about that? As a national umbrella organisation, it should be possible to seek suggestions from the membership.

Ms McKenna mentioned all the good qualities of volunteering. To suggest a return of €11 million on a €2 million investment is to sell volunteering very short. If one considers also the health benefits and the issue of depression, a great deal of other valuable assets fall to be taken into account. It is not alone what people gain for the community, but what they gain for themselves in keeping themselves out of hospital. I do not know if people watched Maureen Gaffney's programme about how to be happy. She gave out a €20 note. It is known in volunteering that what one does for others gives one more satisfaction than what one does for oneself. She proved it again on Tuesday night when she showed that giving away is better than taking. If that was added in, I could see the figure of 3% of GDP referred to standing up as a reckoning of the benefits and value for money. The witnesses have always had an advocate in me for volunteering.

Motivation was mentioned and people realising, as Ms McKenna said, what volunteering can do for them. Most people who volunteer do not do it for themselves, rather they find out afterwards what it does for them personally. If we could do anything it would be to help to get the voices of the volunteer organisations known nationally. On foot of what the Chairman has recommended, we may be able to do something on a policy for volunteering. When the wise heads of the 23 organisations come together, might a prototype policy be developed? One cannot do anything without knowing where one is going and this is asking the converted to do what we know is necessary.

Nothing was mentioned about philanthropy in the statement that was submitted to the committee, unless I missed it. Philanthropy is significant in terms of donations for voluntary societies. Has a strategy been used in that regard? I presume so. Active citizenship and engagement are among the aims and objectives of the philanthropic organisations.

We want to ensure all State agencies in social areas are engaged and have a policy. I am spokesperson on the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government in the Seanad. What is needed is cross-cutting policy across all agencies to ensure that when a Department or agency is developing a policy, it includes volunteerism. In what ways do the witnesses consider the Departments are falling down or stepping up to the plate in that regard? What can the committee do to ensure there is cross-engagement among Departments?

We know from the statistics that everyone is looking for a job now, but volunteerism has not slowed down. It has been proven that 94% of people who volunteer get a job quicker when seeking employment. I thank the witnesses and hope they will keep it up.

Ms Yvonne McKenna:

On the 21 volunteer centres instead of 23, two merged at the beginning of the year. Instead of north and south Dublin centres, we have Dublin City Volunteer Centre. Previously, there were two in Limerick and they merged. It is part of the process of being more efficient and effective.

We brought all the heads together and made a submission to the Department on the thinking of the volunteer infrastructure as to what could be included in a policy statement. That can be submitted to the committee also. We could further update the submission as to how it would dovetail with other policies which have been put in place since it was formulated. In any event, it would provide the committee with a headline sense of our thinking as to what should be in a policy.

The other question was on the cross-departmental approach. I agree with the Senator about the return issue. Even the cost saving that results from volunteering is phenomenal. It is something the National Youth Council of Ireland has looked at in its research.

To have a cross-departmental approach would be wonderful. A couple of comments were made on the difficulties we have in promoting what we do. Today's meeting is an example of how that can be assisted. We would welcome the committee's views in that regard. We are housed and supported within the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. However, this morning I was at a forum meeting on corporate social responsibility which is a significant issue. Previously, I spoke to the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, the Department of Social Protection and the Department of Education and Skills. We are connected with other Departments and any assistance that can be provided in that respect would be very welcome.

Mr. John Cotterell:

In Louth, we work with Dundalk IT to link students' course work with credits for volunteering to provide that there is something in it for the students. It involves the raising and giving, or RAG, army, which is the student's volunteering society so that this is coming from the ground up. It would be helpful if the Department of Education and Skills worked with us and Campus Engage to develop that across third level and even at secondary level through transition year programmes.

A key issue we are raising today is a policy but we are also looking for the committee's support in maintaining our funding. We cannot do this without the members. We are struggling to get that awareness out there. It takes time and money. It is another key recommendation we have for the committee. What the committee can do to help us with that is to champion volunteering. For example, we could have a day of volunteering for Oireachtas Members where we get everyone out. Perhaps, they could help us to clean up a school.

Caít Keane (Fine Gael)
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We do it every day. It is a good idea.

Mr. John Cotterell:

That kind of thing would really help us. It was suggested to me by Deputy Jerry Buttimer yesterday. If we could be creative about it, we can do these things.

Ms Tricia Nolan:

I thank Senator Keane for her kind words. A 5% cut in funding for us this year is the equivalent of €100,000. That is a drop in the ocean to the public purse but would decimate our infrastructure in terms of the impact it will have on us because we have really been cut over the years. It will cause services to be dampened down even more.

A question was asked about gaps. The south east is a real gap. There is no volunteer centre in Wexford, Kilkenny or Waterford. There are other counties that do not have centres but if one was to look at a major gap on the map, the south east in particular is badly affected.

The Senator asked about philanthropy. I said earlier that the centres receive in-kind funding of over €150,000 per year from the Salesforce.com Foundation so sometimes philanthropy is not just about money. It is about the other things that one can receive from a corporate that are not necessarily monetary.

Michael McCarthy (Cork South West, Labour)
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We have had two ten-minute contributions from two main speakers. I will take the other three together. We have a rough draft of a motion that I will read out after those three speakers have been replied to and we will try to get agreement on that and proceed to our statements. I will take questions from Deputies Nash, Bannon and McLoughlin.

Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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I thank the witnesses for their contributions and for being here today. I regularly witness the impact of the Louth Volunteer Centre in my own community. We are very lucky to have the centre in Drogheda. I can see its impact all of the time. It is very visible and effective.

I am very taken with a remark where the witnesses describe themselves as prime delivery agents. It never made much sense to me for the volunteer centre network to be subjected to significant funding reductions in recent years given that it is a gateway service and has such a huge role to play in the broader context of the community and voluntary sector. It can make a big impact for a very small amount of money and it has done so. I have witnessed it. I am very encouraged by the fact that Volunteer Ireland is insisting upon the production of a national policy on volunteering. It is unusual to find organisations in that space. Many organisations may feel they have something to fear from the development of a national policy. Volunteer Ireland clearly does not and I do not think it has anything to fear from it. I am encouraged that it is happy to be benchmarked against that. Where are the obstacles in the Department in terms of the publication of that document? Clearly, Volunteer Ireland has the support of this committee in terms of the publication of that policy.

I note that there has been a 100% increase in volunteers registering with these centres since the onset of the recession for the want of a better way of describing it. As people slowly but surely find their way back to work and full-time employment, what is Volunteer Ireland's view regarding how it will retain them? My own sense is that volunteer centres helped broaden the horizons of people who may have been out of work and who presented to and engaged with the centres. The people in question cannot envisage their lives without volunteering now, which is very positive, but how does Volunteer Ireland intend to retain the services of those with whom it has engaged in recent years probably as a direct result of unemployment?

I note from Mr. Cotterell's reference to the enterprise in Dromiskin in county Louth that an audit of talent and skills in the community was undertaken and that the centre now has a talent bank into which it can tap. Members might be interested in him elaborating on how the centre would go about doing that because there is a gap across the country in terms of communities having that sort of knowledge. It is a really progressive thing to do. Any organisation would wish to have a reasonably good audit of the skills available to it and the same could be said for a town or village. Could Mr. Cotterell elaborate on that and how he might recommend that members encourage their own communities to work with volunteer centres to carry out that exercise?

James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the delegates from the voluntary sector. The work of volunteers the length and breadth of this country is priceless and contributes greatly to building a better society. Senator Landy spoke about sport, the number of people involved in it and the number of volunteers who run sporting events throughout the country each weekend and during the week. Their work is invaluable. Indeed it is at the heart of our sense of community. Does Volunteer Ireland sell itself short in this area - the value of volunteering to communities and society in monetary terms? Around 100 people are registered with the Longford Volunteer Centre - Longford being the county I come from. I see that 300, 400 or 500 people are volunteering weekend after weekend. This area needs to be looked at because I believe there are more people contributing in a voluntary capacity to the development of society and this is not recognised even by Volunteer Ireland.
Volunteering is acknowledged in our action plan for jobs. Has there been an increase or decrease in young people's participation in volunteering in the past years? What are the main barriers to volunteering among the unemployed? Perhaps a volunteering award scheme is in situin most counties. Could it be set up in every county to celebrate the great work of volunteers, to let them know they make a difference in their local communities, to raise awareness and to recognise the important work carried out in their respective communities?
Longford has the best result in the national Tidy Towns competition. All this has been achieved through the volunteers who come in day after day and night after night and in the morning before they go to work to contribute to its development. They have this great sense of pride in their community. This is not recognised by the general public and we could do more to promote the great work of volunteers that is not measured in numbers. A total of 100 people registered with the Longford Volunteer Centre. This number is ridiculously low when one looks at the number of people involved in volunteering. I would say that over 1,000 people would be involved on a weekly basis.

Tony McLoughlin (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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The witnesses are very welcome. I thank them for coming in today because I represent a constituency in Sligo and would be very familiar with the work that is taking place there. I see it on a regular basis and have been speaking to the witnesses' colleagues there. We resolved an issue with the local authority regarding accommodation in Sligo. What is the nature of Volunteer Ireland's relationship with local authorities? Is the relationship close? One of the issues the witnesses spoke about here was funding and the lack thereof. I see the number of people who are actively participating in activities in Sligo in areas raised by the witnesses such as sport, the Fleadh and Tidy Towns. I attended a briefing in Buswells Hotel some weeks ago. It is vitally important that more people are more aware of it because there are many people out there. I have seen the age profile of those involved in volunteering and it is very encouraging. I am speaking based on my experience in Sligo. I am very impressed with the work, commitment and effort put in by so many people on a daily basis and I commend Volunteer Ireland for the work that has been done there

Ms Yvonne McKenna:

I will respond to the questions. I understand some of my colleagues will also wish to comment. With regard to the obstacle to the policy, we work closely with the community section of the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and believe that it is committed to a policy.

That Department has a variety of policies of late. One of the obstacles is the workload of that section in the Department. I recognise that funding is an issue and that the Department will not be developing a policy that would commit to additional funding. We hope the policy will not result in any cuts to funding, however. We are trying to remind the Department of the importance of policy and the impact it should have.

In regard to whether we will be able to retain these volunteers, when we discussed this issue with a previous committee in 2009 we pointed out that the way in which Ireland supported volunteering through the recession could influence the kind of society that emerges. Job seeking and skills building were clearly a factor for many of the people who decided to volunteer in response to the recession but a considerable number indicated to us that they were motivated by a desire to be more involved in their communities and exercise a degree of control. This was a period in which Ireland lost its sovereignty and people wanted to get involved in activities which would have an immediate impact. Even if we are to go straight from a recession to another boom, it is important that we create a society in which everyone who wants to volunteer can volunteer. Some of the biggest barriers to volunteering are not knowing that one has something to give or where to go. That is why the infrastructure plays an important role.

Investment in volunteering infrastructure began in 2005 and since then we have never seen a reduction in the number of people who want to volunteer. The sense that people stopped volunteering during the boom is probably not entirely correct. It is an instinct to connect with others and I see this as becoming even more important as we, hopefully, head out of recession.

I agree that we sell ourselves short in regard to the impact of volunteering. Applying an average industrial wage to the number of hours that a volunteer donates does not even tell half of the story of the impact of volunteering on society. It is not the role of volunteering infrastructure to count volunteering or to get a sense of its impact. Perhaps the CSO can provide the national statistics required to get a real sense of the impact.

We have engaged with the Department of Social Protection regarding the barriers for volunteering among unemployed people. While recipients of State benefits are permitted to volunteer, individuals are being told that if they are seen to volunteer for longer than a certain number of hours they risk losing their benefits. A volunteer who receives State benefits can complete a certain form but the low number of completed forms reflects the extent to which people feel that receiving State benefits is a barrier to volunteering. One of the biggest barriers is the opportunity to volunteer. When organisations are firefighting because their funding is being cut and the demand for services is rising, they do not have the resources to take stock and see how they can grow their volunteer involvement. Our experience is that when people approach us to volunteer we can find it difficult to find opportunities that match their soft and hard skills.

We did not mention philanthropy in our submission. We work at local level to develop philanthropy but while someone who wants to give money will rarely be refused, it is often more difficult to find ways of investing offers of time.

We operate a national volunteer award scheme, the Volunteer Ireland awards. The scheme is operated nationally rather than at county level. People do not volunteer to win awards or recognition. The value of the award scheme is not necessarily for the person who receives an award but in the impact it has in inspiring others.

Ms Patricia Nolan:

Deputy Nash referred to a skills bank for volunteers. We have not rested on our laurels in building a national database through which volunteers can identify opportunities because we are now throwing it on its head. In the next couple of months we will be launching a volunteer finder service, whereby community organisations can log on to our database to search for volunteers by their skills. The online system should be launched by the end of this summer. We are constantly building on our online presence.

All of the volunteer centres are encouraged to work with their local authorities and local area partnerships. South County Dublin Volunteer Centre is housed by South Dublin County Council in its Clondalkin and Tallaght offices. We are not housed there today but we are normally housed there. All of the volunteer centres are in receipt of some funding from their local partnerships. Ring-fenced funding of 1% is given to local partnerships for volunteering activities, and this goes to the local volunteer centres. We have close working relationships with local authorities and local partnerships and it is important that we are integrated at that level.

In regard to retaining volunteers as we come out of the recession, my experience at local level is that many of those who started volunteering during the recession were not necessarily unemployed people who had time on their hands. Our volunteers included people who felt the country was in trouble and they wanted to put their shoulders to the wheel. The main reason people volunteer with us is because they want to give something back not because they want to gain or improve their skills. That is an interesting trend.

Mr. John Cotterell:

Deputy Nash asked about the Knockbridge community audit. This project emerged from a presentation I made to the local council. I sat down with a local councillor, Declan Breathnach, to identify the skills possessed by the people who were willing to help their communities. This included people with public relations and writing skills. We sent 700 questionnaires to the houses in the local parish to ascertain residents' skills. Rather than ask respondents to make a commitment to volunteering we sought information on what areas might interest them. What emerged from the survey was a befriending service for older people which we have developed into a mass texting service linked to the I-Vol system. We can now let people know what is happening so that they can volunteer if they wish. It is a question of giving people more choice to volunteer in a way and a time that suits them.

Louth Volunteer Centre is housed in a property owned by Louth County Council at a reduced rent. We recently provided 60 volunteers for the local Irish maritime festival, which was run by the council. There is a win-win in these relationships.

In regard to the unemployed, perhaps the committee could help us to reduce the aforementioned barriers. I understand the Department of Social Protection and the Intreo offices do not recognise volunteering as one of their key objectives when they are trying to place or progress people who are unemployed. They focus on training and employment but volunteering should also be considered given the skills that can be developed. Even at the most basic level, someone who lacks confidence to commit to employment or training can use volunteering as a stepping stone to employment. We ask that volunteering be recognised in the Department's objectives. We could also go to jobs clubs to make our presentations because, as has been pointed out, not enough people know about Volunteer Ireland and volunteer centres. Unfortunately, because we are trying to manage and help the people who register we do not have the funding or the time to promote and advertise our centres. That is a key constraint.

Denis Landy (Labour)
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Can Ms McKenna tell us the number of hours per year of an average volunteer? I am trying to get a handle on it from the charts provided but I cannot.

It is impossible to say what is an average volunteer. One person will do their two hours on Daffodil Day once a year whereas I remember being on a sports committee where someone was volunteering 50 hours a week. It is difficult to say there is an average volunteer.

Denis Landy (Labour)
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I just wanted to understand it from the figures.

Michael McCarthy (Cork South West, Labour)
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If anyone has any other issues, they can ask about them outside. I want to have the motion agreed. While it has technically been proposed, I want to give the wording, which is as follows: "That the committee calls on the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, in consultation with other relevant Ministers, to develop and publish a comprehensive policy on promoting volunteerism in Ireland; this policy should identify in outline the advantages and benefits of a culture of volunteerism in Ireland and outline how the Government intends to encourage and support this." This was proposed by Senator Landy and seconded by Senator Keane. Is the motion as proposed agreed to? Agreed.

I will call the meeting to a close. We will then go outside and have a photograph taken with the Volunteer Ireland representatives. We will make a statement there.

Denis Landy (Labour)
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There is to be a vote in the House so can we do it before then?

Michael McCarthy (Cork South West, Labour)
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We will do it now.

Mr. John Cotterell:

On one final point, supporting the ongoing funding of the Volunteer Ireland volunteer centres is another key goal for us. With support from the committee, perhaps that could be added.

Michael McCarthy (Cork South West, Labour)
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That will not happen in terms of funding because we have other groups in next week. If we get this much done, it will be good. It was a very productive meeting.