Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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607. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government his views on a request to meet with the national executive group of Volunteer Ireland and the volunteer centres. [48066/14]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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The Government continues to advance a range of measures that support volunteering and active citizenship. My Department funds a network of 21 Volunteer Centres. It also provides funding to Volunteer Ireland, the national volunteer development agency.

The focus of Volunteer Ireland is to create an enabling environment for volunteering, to develop an ethos of volunteerism across all sectors of society and to be an independent and legitimate voice for volunteering. The 21 Volunteer Centres act as 'brokers’ between potential volunteers and organisations seeking volunteers. The centres are linked by a common database and a common best practice approach. They also work with organisations to develop their volunteer management capacity and carry out Garda vetting for smaller organisations.

My Department recently met with the Joint Volunteer Ireland/Volunteer Centre Managers Executive Group and discussed a number of matters of interest, including funding for 2015, volunteering policy and the role of volunteering going forward. The group was assured of my Department's continued support for volunteering and volunteer centres and that my Department appreciates the importance of volunteering and the work carried out by these groups.