Written answers

Thursday, 9 December 2021

Department of Rural and Community Development

Voluntary Sector

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

381. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development her proposals for the development of a national volunteering strategy and for the drawing up of a national social enterprise policy; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [61057/21]

Photo of Joe O'BrienJoe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Since the launch of the National Volunteering Strategy 2021-2025 in December 2020, there has been significant progress in implementing the 56 actions across the five strategic objectives.

An Implementation Group was established in March 2021, this group includes key Government Departments, State Agencies and other vital stakeholders in the voluntary sector and from the sectors necessary to ensure the Strategy achieves its aims. To ensure that the views and experience of the volunteering community is strongly reflected in the implementation of the actions, five subgroups oversee and recommend on the delivery of each action.

A number of actions within the Strategy have also been implemented or commenced. These include the opening of seven new volunteer centres in May 2021, the launch of the Community Volunteers Programme in September and the commencement of research projects in a number of areas including volunteer management and capacity building. An annual update on the implementation of the Strategy will be published early in 2022 and will be available on my department's website.

Significant progress has also been made in implementing the National Social Enterprise Policy for Ireland 2019-2022, under its three main objectives – building awareness, growing and strengthening social enterprise, and achieving policy alignment. As we enter the final year of the current policy the process of reflecting on progress achieved and the priorities for the future has begun. My Department has engaged the OECD to provide an in-depth, independent review of the current policy which should provide a very good starting point to the process of developing a successor policy from 2023.

As we move forward with the development of a new Policy we will do so in partnership with all stakeholders. This partnership approach has served us very well thus far, and I have no doubt it will be critical to building on the momentum we have achieved in developing the sector further.

Next year my Department will also be conducting the first comprehensive Data Collection “census” of social enterprise in Ireland. A Request for Tender is currently on e-tenders until mid-January 2022. This significant exercise will give us a better understanding of the scale of the sector, and will provide a robust evidence basis for the development of our new policy.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.