Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)

I thank the Minister of State for that reply. When a parliamentary question was tabled in April on the issue of locating volunteer centres on the campuses of third level institutions, he indicated that in this context he would discuss the relevant matters as they arose with the Minister for Education and Science. I welcome the initiative in DIT as it is moving in the right direction. However, it needs to be spread out geographically. The idea of having volunteer centres on the campuses of universities and institutes of technology is an important initiative as younger people are exposed to the voluntary sector and are educated in community development. This amounts to loving one's neighbour, especially when one's neighbour is in need.

There are also recommendations in the joint committee report. One of them was for an element of volunteering in the transition year. Another was to carry the junior certificate CSPE on to leaving certificate level. These are not directly within the Minister of State's Department, but he indicated that the issues on third level volunteering would be discussed with the Minister for Education and Science as they arose. Has there been any discussion in the interim?

See this speech in context