Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy has them in his constituency. Every Deputy here has them in his or her constituency. But for that voluntary sector, we would have a difficult situation in this country. They have to be complimented. I have to thank them. They do tremendous work. There are people who put their lives into voluntary schemes and put a lot of work into it and they do not get anything out of it. Sometimes they get abuse. They do not get the respect that they deserve.

I want to put this on the record today and thank them on behalf of the Government and on my own behalf. I see what is happening all over this country and, but for the voluntary sector, we would have a very serious problem, particularly with services. The State will not provide them. The HSE will not provide them. The local authority will not provide them. If we did not have the voluntary sector, we would have a very difficult time in this House.

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