Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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For generations, Irish citizens have played a key role in overseas development work throughout the developing world. In particular, the role of thousands of Irish missionaries in Africa, over a long period of time and in extraordinarily challenging circumstances, deserves special mention.

Irish people continue to play a critical role in the fight to eliminate poverty, hunger and injustice in developing countries. Their work continues to make a significant difference to long term development efforts and to emergency humanitarian action globally.

An important element of overseas development and aid work is volunteering. In 2013, the Government, as part of its commitment to volunteering, launched the Irish Aid Volunteering Initiative, which recognised the huge contribution that Irish volunteers have long made. This Initiative aims to strengthen support for overseas volunteering – from the earliest stage when a person first considers volunteering to the volunteer’s return home.

Comhlámh, the Irish Association of Development Workers and Volunteers, with support from Irish Aid, the Government’s overseas development programme, undertook a survey into International Volunteering in 2013 from Ireland. Based on this survey of Volunteer Sending Agencies, it is estimated that there were more than 1,700 Irish volunteers involved in development work in 2013.

The survey showed that volunteers from Ireland worked in 47 countries, including those countries with which Ireland has developed a longstanding relationship through Irish Aid. These include Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Vietnam. The data indicated that the majority of these were under the age of 30, with a high proportion of women volunteers.

Given the significant numbers of Irish volunteers and missionaries working in overseas development, the number of countries in which they are working and the range of organisations, it is it not practicable to determine the precise number of Irish citizens involved at any given time. However, it is clear that our volunteers, aid workers and missionaries and the officials working with the Irish Aid programme are delivering change in the lives of some of the poorest communities, especially in Africa, and contributing to one of the central priorities of Ireland’s foreign policy.