Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Question 2: To ask the Taoiseach the role and function of the task force on active citizenship which he announced on 14 April 2005; the responsibilities of his Department with regard to the task force; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12744/05]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Question 3: To ask the Taoiseach the role of the new task force he recently announced to determine the persons among whom to promote greater participation in communities and society; the membership of the task force; when it is expected to report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13044/05]

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 4: To ask the Taoiseach the role of the new task force on active citizenship; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14070/05]

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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Question 5: To ask the Taoiseach the role of the new task force on active citizenship he announced in April 2005; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14829/05]

Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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Question 6: To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on the role and membership of the proposed new task force on active citizenship. [15225/05]

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 2 to 6, inclusive, together.

It is widely accepted that the quality of life is significantly enhanced by the willingness of people to become involved and active in their communities across the wide range of issues and interests which make up our civil society. It is equally recognised that there are many pressures which can inhibit such participation. Accordingly, I have decided to establish a task force on active citizenship to advise me and the Government on the steps which can be taken to encourage active participation.

The task force, whose membership and detailed terms of reference will be announced shortly, will comprise people from a variety of backgrounds and they will be asked to draw on the experience of existing organisations, as well as academic research and international practice, to identify specific measures which we can take in the short term, as well as issues which we need to address for the long term.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House.

It is also important that the task force should stimulate discussion and debate about the challenge of maintaining and developing active citizenship and a participatory society. I intend that the task force should make its report within six months of commencing its activity, and that the many groups and individuals with experience and views will have an opportunity to make an input to its work.

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Have terms of reference been issued? Has there been a public announcement of the task force membership?

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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I have not announced the membership. However, a large number of organisations have pressed for this since the publication of the White Paper on volunteerism two years ago which at the time was chaired by Chris Flood. A large conference of all of the organisations active in this area was held recently. It was organised as the annual conference of The Wheel, a body which draws on representatives from a wide range of voluntary organisations. I spoke on this issue at the conference. The representatives gave me their views on the kind of terms of reference they want. More broadly, as similar developments have also happened internationally, my Department has been examining other experiences as well as research carried out elsewhere on this subject. An enormous number of organisations in the country which are active in volunteerism would like to be on the task force but it is not possible to include them all. We will let organisations nominate individuals because they are national organisations such as the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and women's organisations. I will try to ensure the process does not drag on indefinitely and get terms of reference that give a guideline to short-term actions. It could possibly remain in place for some medium and longer term issues. Many of these organisations have done excellent work and carried out research themselves. They are now trying to ensure that some of these issues are addressed on a national basis. The annual conference of The Wheel and the papers connected with it set out what they have done and what they think the country and State agencies can do. We will base the terms of reference on the papers submitted at the annual conference.

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Does the Taoiseach agree that provision must be made not just for the great, the good, the rich and the powerful but also for the disadvantaged and marginalised in any true civic republican concept of citizenship? In that sense, does he acknowledge there is a conflict between his allegiance to this concept and the decision by the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív, and the Minister of State at the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Deputy Noel Ahern, to stop core funding for an organisation like the Community Workers Co-operative? This organisation has promoted active citizenship, focusing on issues of disadvantage and exclusion and yet its very existence is threatened by the removal of core funding by the Government.

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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There is already extensive public funding of voluntary organisations across a wide range of Departments and the majority of jobs in voluntary organisations are directly supported by public funds. Some people have even argued that this tips the balance away from direct voluntary participation in some organisations. I do not subscribe to that view because I do not see how organisations can raise funds for their own positions and salaries. It is important that an initiative in direct community and voluntary effort should be supported and the terms upon which public funds are made available should be promulgated widely and made capable of being assessed in the most consumer-friendly way possible, consistent with the proper rules.

With regard to the decision by the Minister of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs to cease core funding for the Community Workers Co-operative, the particular form of funding which was involved in the co-operative movement had criteria attached to it. The Minister and his Department are responsible for ensuring these criteria are met. I had planned on finding out more about this particular case yesterday because Deputy Rabbitte had highlighted it, but I will check on it for the Deputy. I am not in position to give information about the decision or the criteria that were used to judge the co-operative's application. An issue that arises with many of these organisations, although I do not know if it applies to this particular organisation, is that they are established on a pilot basis for a few years and then immediately wish to become mainstream, which is another major problem. I know that the Community Workers Co-operative is eligible to apply for funding under many other headings and I am sure it will examine that. I think I advised it to do so when it wrote to me some time ago. However, I will check on what is the latest position.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I read the Taoiseach's speech at The Wheel, which was well-written. In it, he said "Happy the society that has people who act rather than lament, who organise rather than complain, who accept a personal responsibility rather than walk by on the other side". This a very deep sentiment. In that context, I wish to raise three issues with him.

It appears that one of the consequences of the individualisation of tax has been that many women who used to be involved in voluntary work and who returned to the workforce no longer have the time to engage in voluntary work. Many voluntary organisations are now forced to raise money to pay for what was done on a voluntary basis before as a consequence of tax individualisation. Does the Taoiseach regard this as a consequence or a problem?

The Taoiseach stated that the country requires a civic and participative society where people are involved in the actions of a progressive society. In many communities, where groups get together to work for objectives or targets, for example, community crèche facilities, when they do the work and go through all the necessary processes and get their facility, in most cases, they find themselves hamstrung by serious water charges and commercial rates. Is this not a contradiction in that the State wants to help communities to help themselves but through helping them, burdens them with demands they cannot meet?

Yesterday, Young Fine Gael identified the issue of social isolation and psychological pain as two very important factors in our rates of suicide and depression. Will the task force examine this area because it appears there is a considerable amount of people whose lives are emotionally shattered and who, because of lack of services, are not in a position to contribute to the kind of society the Taoiseach so eloquently spoke about in his speech at The Wheel?

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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I accept there are deep social and cultural factors which can hamper people's participation in various organisations. For example, a change in work and community patterns is a major factor in that. However, there are examples of sporting, cultural and social organisations which have an enormous impact on people's lives and whose members put in a considerable amount of effort into their work. It is not just the result of the work cycle. The busiest organisations are often run by people who, on the surface, should not have the time for them. At the same time, there are organisations whose members are not really involved in anything or are unemployed and who contribute a few hours to the organisation's activities but it does not work. I used to complain that the places in my constituency with the highest unemployment rates, which thankfully have decreased, had clubs that found it hardest to recruit managers and mentors to run them.

I accept that there are problems. Issues like personal responsibility, liability, access to support, advice, recognition and encouragement need to be examined. Public liability is probably the biggest factor in dissuading people from voluntary work because insurance issues crop up regardless of the work that is being done. If someone wishes to run a dance, music or contact sport class, the first thing he or she faces is insurance. A person almost ends up becoming an actuary rather than a trainer.

There is an enormous amount of goodwill in organisations and with some collective thinking, they can possibly give some new insights into the best way to proceed. It is the best practice of good organisations that will raise standards in other organisations.

Deputy Kenny's remarks about suicide and related issues are important. I read last week's debate in the House on suicide. While the figures are down on five or six years ago, they are still alarming. On questions the Deputy asked me, I recently read the detailed report of one of the alcohol association groups, which made 77 recommendations. The report's contents, including case studies on suicides, are devastating. I will not claim to be an expert in this field but isolation and alcohol, which are the causes in other countries, seem to be the growing causes here based on the evidence of some of these surveys. The matter requires more research but, subject to correction of the record, post mortems found that over 90% of suicide cases had alcohol in their systems. Of these, the amount of alcohol was large in almost 40%. Much of this is related to alcohol usage in the home. I am not an expert but the figures indicate a trend of isolation and not pub culture.

There is a connection that requires research, of which there is much according to last week's Official Report. The Government is rightly funding much of this research. Organisations have told me of their many good practices. They believe that, by working together, they can get young and old people in a wider base in the community to actively participate. This good practice could aid the lifestyles of young and old people in particular. Great work is being done with bowls, a hugely competitive game which does not involve great costs, during the winter for older people. Many people say a small amount of money for these areas would make for more active lifestyles, which is an interesting point.

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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I welcome the new task force on active citizenship. Does the Taoiseach regard the work of the task force as including the proposal of indicators that might be useful in respect of levels of involvement by people in community life and preventing the type of problems he referred to? Will he consider quality of life indicators as aspects of the terms of reference? Suggestions include young people's involvement in organisations or voter turnouts, which is one we are well aware of. A number of indicators from Scandinavian countries would form a useful guideline for quality of life indicators.

Deputy Kenny has referred often to an issue regarding younger people. They are displaying a trend of less involvement in community activity. Will the Minister for Education and Science consider the work being done by a number of student councils in terms of citizenship?

Rory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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The Deputy should ask his question of the Minister at the appropriate time.

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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I will as I do not wish to short circuit the process. The Minister's presence reminded me about issues such as the weight of schoolbags and others that are pertinent to the many students who contact me from time to time. Is the Taoiseach open to suggestions from the task force such as lowering voting age to tackle the low voter turnout we are all suffering at present? Will the Taoiseach see the task force's role in the system as advisory or something beyond this?

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy mentioned Scandinavian models and is correct that there is substantial literature on the matter, which has been considered by a number of international bodies. I read some of the recommendations of a good report from the OECD. The task force will consult recognised international experts in this field, many of whom have been working on this here and in other countries for a long time. In the Scandinavian model, organisations tend to work well together, which is not always the case here. I understand people will fight for their patch but the models require working in an integrated way. However, we can examine what is being done.

The Minister for Education and Science has and continues to actively support schools engaged in the civic civil political association and getting students involved at a younger age, voting for their councils, participating on them etc. The Minister is actively interested in this. Regarding many other organisations, we are lucky that Ireland is still ahead in terms of people who want to be active in groups, for example, historical, cultural, social, sporting and other groups. This is about recognition. People believe their civic society engagement should be given support and that their good ideas and works should be expanded nationally. They make the point that Northern Ireland should be included, which I support.

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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Presumably, many people who have already voluntarily invested much of their time in giving to society will invest time in this. Has the Taoiseach given them an indication that there will be results from this investment? I refer to the suicide task force matter raised by Deputy Kenny. The task force reported seven years ago but only a small number of its recommendations have been implemented. Has the Taoiseach told the new task force that its recommendations will be translated into action?

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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Yes, otherwise people's efforts will be pointless. Encouragingly, many recommendations from the White Paper on supporting voluntary activity have been taken by various Government and statutory agencies and are being successfully implemented. I do not wish to use monetary terms, but the amount of resources the State gives to groups is enormous. Many of these activities are now mainstream, with people who used to engage part-time, at night or on Saturdays now doing so on a full-time basis and there are huge resources, such as in premises. There are approximately 5,000 capital structures in one form or another under development around the country through voluntary groups, including sporting, cultural and caring groups. As I told Deputy Rabbitte, the types of organisations being represented are high profile. If they make good recommendations, we should act on them and I will do everything I can to ensure this happens.