Feargal Quinn (Independent)

I welcome the Minister to the House. I appreciate all he has said and is doing, in particular in regard to the forum on philanthropy and fund-raising referred to by Senator Zappone. In regard to the philanthropy problem, it appears to me that the reason we do not have a high target is the use by wealthy people of tax breaks to avoid paying tax. The introduction of tax breaks has affected philanthropy, which I am sure was not the intention. This means a person wishing to give away money rather than pay tax on it cannot do so. It is hoped that issue will be addressed.

There are many great things happening in this country in respect of which the State could act as a catalyst. I wish to bring to the attention of the House the first of a six part programme, in which I am involved, about Drogheda commencing tonight on television entitled, "Local Heroes - A Town Fights Back". It will be fascinating to watch. The programme is produced by RTE, which believes that as a public service broadcaster it should be encouraging community and voluntary effort. One such effort is the investment by the people of Drogheda in a time bank. A time bank is the giving freely by a local solicitor, plumber, electrician and so on of one, two or three hours of his or her time to help the community. It is a great example of what could happen with the assistance of various services throughout the country. This is the type of activity in which the State can act as a catalyst.

The issue of whether people should have to work following a particular length of time on social welfare has been raised. Many people say they would prefer to be doing something to help their community rather than at home doing nothing. In Holland, following receipt of social welfare for 12 months, a person is required by Government to take up a job, say, painting a local school or cleaning the floors of a local hospital in exchange for social welfare payments. As I said earlier, many people would prefer to do this rather than be at home doing nothing.

During a discussion I had with an RTE journalist in regard to an article on community employment schemes in Ireland, he told me how well they are working and that they could, if they had more managers to supervise them, employ hundreds of people. Surely, there are out of work many highly qualified people who could be encouraged by way of extra funding to manage community employment schemes. The journalist told me he saw firsthand the lift given to people working in their communities cleaning graffiti off walls, repairing homes and so on. These are people who would otherwise have been unemployed. In this regard, the journalist spoke to half a dozen from Darndale and Coolock. It is pity there are not more similar projects operating in the country. The manager of the Coolock centre said they need funding for more managers of work teams and that they could take hundreds of people off the dole with a little more funding. I am not seeking funding in that regard.

The international baccalaureate requires students to set themselves eight targets of community work, in respect of which they are awarded extra points in their examination. Perhaps a similar incentive could be included in our education system. As I understand it, sixth year students in Britain who undertake such work are given marks towards their final examinations. I believe we could do likewise. There is much willingness in Ireland to do voluntary work but a little spark is needed. I do not believe that spark is a money spark, rather it is the type of spark being undertaken by RTE in this area. Other State bodies could encourage people to do likewise. All people need is encouragement. The Minister referred earlier to the amount of good work being done and the level of enthusiasm and energy in community and voluntary work. The Minister's heart, in terms of the words he used today, is in the right place. Let us ensure it happens.