Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising that particular point. I will take the opportunity to acknowledge all the board members across the country who do all the unseen work behind the scenes, much of which is tough drudgery and administrative work that does not always get acknowledged and seen. We are doing a needs assessment. We are currently working on a research programme to establish the skills and training needs within the sector to provide opportunities where gaps exist and to help to signpost existing resources where that is required. The first report of the training needs of the local community development committees, LCDCs, is to hand and has been agreed by the cross-sectoral group, CSG. A decision was taken to hold and publish all three reports together once they are finalised. A second report relates to the training needs of the voluntary boards of middle-sized charities. That report is nearing completion and we hope to be in a position to present the draft report to the CSG group shortly. The third report around training relates to smaller and community voluntary groups. It is also nearing completion and a draft report is due to be submitted to the subgroup shortly. The plan is to publish all three reports together and to get an implementation plan rolling as quickly as we can so we can help people in the situations the Deputy has described to feel better able to handle their workload.

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