Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Independent)

There is only one valiant Deputy from the Government side present, which is extraordinarily disappointing given we are speaking about the community and voluntary sector. I welcome my colleague, Deputy Dara Murphy, and thank him for being here.

I would like to address briefly the issue of funding in the voluntary and community sector, which is at the heart of the motion we are discussing. There are four sources of funding, namely, the State, ordinary individuals, corporates and high net worth individuals. We are a nation of givers. As individuals we give often compared with our European colleagues. We gave more per capita for the Somalian crisis than did any other country in Europe. We are a nation of givers.

However, the McKinsey report on philanthropic giving published in 2010 showed that as individuals the total amount we give relative to our European counterparts is low. This is mainly because we give in an ad hoc fashion. We do not sign up to planned giving. Data from the UK show that on average a person gives five times more in any given year if they sign up for planned giving. Not only has there been a drop in the State's contribution to the voluntary and community sector since the commencement of the recession, but between 1995 and 2005, funding from the State to the voluntary and community sector fell by €300 million. It is important to note that this is not new.

In terms of our corporates, namely, our business sector, the research shows that our businesses as a percentage of pre-tax profits give about one tenth of what businesses in the UK give. The level of engagement from our corporate sector, in terms of cash and what counts, is absolutely miserable. High net worth individuals typically set up foundations around the world. We have only three foundations of any significant size in Ireland, two of which are in pay down mode, which is causing huge concern in the voluntary and community sector. We have the lowest number of foundations per capita in Europe. While all of this indicates that we do not give anything like what our European colleagues give, it also shows huge potential for the voluntary and community sector. I call on the Government to examine these and to come up with some ideas. If anyone from the Government ever bothers to show up I can show them how the corporate sector and high net worth individuals can be encouraged to give more and how the voluntary and community sector can be given additional capacity to help them raise more funding.

See this speech in context