Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)

I do not mind whether the Deputy calls it the jobs budget or jobs initiative. I welcome his support for this proposal. In reply to his earlier question, I have begun to consult and have met the board of Dóchas, an umbrella organisation for all the various bodies, to discuss how this might work. I also met Trócaire and I plan to meet within the next few weeks the various other organisations such as Concern, GOAL and Misean Cara, which represents the missionaries. We already have the mechanism of going through those kinds of bodies. Voluntary Service Overseas is another major organisation for volunteering and it would seem a good channel to use as we know it works well.

With regard to establishing a new mechanism, I am not sure any of us would wish to begin setting up new bodies or organisations, and I would probably be condemned if I suggested that. Primarily, we want to use what we already have. I point out that Irish Aid has a volunteering and information centre on O'Connell Street, Dublin. I would advise anybody who wishes to access information on volunteering to visit the centre, which is in an obvious location with a big shop front-type window.

I do not envisage this will be a specific proposal in the jobs initiative or jobs budget. Frankly, I do not believe it will be ready for that time and those proposals will largely relate to other areas of job creation. We certainly intend to develop this.

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