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.