Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

More than 1,000 submissions have been made to date, most of them from national organisations such as sporting and community bodies as well as individuals. It may be worth quoting again the four terms of reference of the task force. The first is to "review the evidence regarding trends in citizen participation across the main areas of civic, community, cultural, occupational and recreational life in Ireland". It has, therefore, a very broad remit. The second is to "examine those trends in the context of international experience and analysis". Plenty of these kinds of studies have been done in most developed countries. The third is to "review the experience of organisations involved in the political, caring, community, professional and occupational, cultural, sporting and religious dimensions of Irish life regarding influences, both positive and negative, on levels of citizen participation and engagement". The final one is to "recommend measures which could be taken as part of public policy to facilitate and encourage (i) a greater degree of engagement by citizens in all aspects of Irish life and (ii) the growth and development of voluntary organisations as part of a strong civic culture".

In the course of its work, the task force has been consulting individuals and organisations throughout the country at every level, from large business to people who deal with the most marginalised in society, to find out their experiences and the influences they believe would help shape citizens' participation and engagement. The task force hopes to report next year, although I am not sure when it will do so. Rather than imposing a time limit, it is more important that the exercise is done fully and completely so that the report comes up with recommendations that we can all take forward.

I have no doubt that under the terms of reference all of the kinds of issues the Deputy mentioned and many more will come forward. That will shape what we have to do to deal with the issues of the future.

There are pluses and minuses involved. More and more workplaces are scheduling working time into four day and 39 hour weeks, as against what used to be the case in the past when we had 40 and 50 hour weeks. All the other issues that are pluses and minuses, including traffic and the fact people are working rather than unemployed, will, I am sure, be reflected in the final report. More importantly, it will include recommendations that we can take forward and will affect all the community, not just those who are involved in community-based organisations on a full-time basis or practically as a career.

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