Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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Question 375: To ask the Minister for Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs if a national policy on volunteering will be provided; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5440/11]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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My Department funds a network of twenty two Volunteer Centres nationally. It also funds Volunteer Centres Ireland (VCI) and Volunteering Ireland (VI), the umbrella bodies responsible for developing best practice within the network.

VCI and its member centres encourage all community and voluntary organisations that work with volunteers to have in place a suitable volunteer policy. The development of a volunteer policy is an integral part of the management training currently provided by Volunteer Centres to organisations engaging volunteers.

There are a number of charters on volunteering available within the community and voluntary sector. One such charter is the "Charter for Effective Volunteering" developed by VI and is widely used within the sector. It is important that each individual community and voluntary organisation adapts a charter to suit the particular needs of its organisation and its overall context.

2011 has been designated the European Year of Volunteering (EYV2011). One of the key objectives of the year is to work towards an enabling environment for volunteering, which includes the development of a National Policy on Volunteering. The Irish national steering group for EYV2011, on which my Department is represented, is working with VI, as the National Coordinating Body for the Year, to bring forward the development of a National Policy on Volunteering in line with initiatives taken in this area by the European Commission.