Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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Through Dormant Accounts funding, Sport Ireland has a dedicated fund, Volunteer Supports, which is open to the Local Sports Partnerships (LSPs) and National Governing Bodies of Sport (NGBs) to apply for funding. The Volunteer Supports initiative aims to identify and assist targeted individuals who are volunteering in disadvantaged communities or with people with disabilities to gain community sport and physical activity leadership skills e.g. as coaches, leaders, referees, committee members etc. This initiative can also target secondary school aged learners who wish to develop their leadership skills. This funding stream is intended to support individuals to operate in a volunteer capacity within disadvantaged communities or with people with disabilities. Opportunities are extended to support individuals who are under-represented at all levels of volunteering, including ethnic minorities, asylum seekers and refugees, Traveller and Roma, women and girls, and people with a disability. In 2023, there was a total investment of €1,260,000 on these volunteer-related initiatives.

As a reflection of the high priority which is afforded sports volunteering, I launched a new Sport Ireland dedicated Policy on Volunteering in Sport in early January. The policy identifies a wide range of initiatives to empower the sport sector to tackle the challenges currently faced through clear, evidence-based and data-driven solutions. The policy has identified four key policy objectives:

• Diversify the Volunteer Base.
• Recruit and Grow the Volunteer Population.
• Retain Volunteers and Encourage Lifelong Volunteering.
• Recognise and Value Volunteers.

To address the target areas and to achieve the identified objectives there are several important actions that Sport Ireland will take.1. Investment in NGBs, LSPs and funded bodies to improve the volunteer experience.

2. Resource professional roles across the sport sector.

3. Establish a Volunteer in Sport Working Group.

4. Create a Volunteer in Sport Digital Resource.Sport Ireland will lead on the implementation of this policy, and will work closely with the sport sector and key partners to deliver on its commitments. The next steps in the implementation phase of the policy will be communicated to all stakeholders in the coming weeks.