Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

The situation is evolving. Since the Department was set up we have been working with this sector to streamline services. Everything cannot be done overnight. In regard to proposals from the Oireachtas committee, we have been working on proposals for volunteering for some time. A sub-committee of the IAG has examined them from the point of view of a introducing a White Paper and from the point of view of the recommendations in Tipping the Balance. It is timely that the Oireachtas report has come forward, as we were working on these proposals. Within a couple of weeks, irrespective of whether it has taken four and a half years to get to this point, we will be bring forward measures from a structural point of view to assist in working with people who are trying to encourage and promote volunteering on a short-term and a long-term basis.

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