National Volunteering Strategy: Statements
Seanad Éireann — 2026-02-24
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Gareth Scahill (FG), Nominated by the Taoiseach

The Minister of State is very welcome. When I think of volunteers, I refer to Churchill when he said, "Never ... was so much owed by so many to so few". He was speaking about something different at the time. Volunteering is something very special in our country and it is not written into law, as the Minister of State mentioned. Rather, it is written into who we are and what we do in this country.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Minister of State and his Department, along with the Minister, Deputy Calleary, because it is the Department that has supported the volunteerism with which I have been involved for the past 14 years.
Last night, I attended a Castlerea Town Team gathering. I have been a member of the team for 14 years. We presented our town centre first plan to the community. It was to be submitted today, the final date for applications. The submission represents 18 months of meetings, consultations, listening sessions and honest conversations. As people are expected to be in Ireland, the meeting was quite vocal and people had strong opinions, to which they are entitled. There was an element of respect in the room for the people representing their community. I am not referring to the political but rather the volunteering side.
Volunteers represent significant time and it is time that volunteers are giving up freely on a constant basis. It is time that they could have spent with families, friends or resting. It is time they could have spent looking after their own well-being. That needs to be factored in. Instead, volunteers spend time listening to concerns in sitting rooms, gathering ideas and trying to make their home towns, including my home town, Castlerea, a better place to live. That is what volunteers do. It is not just an activity; it is a sacrifice and it is something they do with would care. I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the town teams in Boyle, Ballaghaderreen, Roscommon town, Strokestown and Monksland, as well as a lot of the community development companies throughout Roscommon and the country.
Before entering the House, I coached an under-6 boys team on Monday evenings. Anyone who has ever tried to organise a group of six-year-old boys will know the kind of resilience it takes to look after a group like that. The Seanad was an awful lot easier and a step up.
Every four weeks, I sell GAA lotto tickets in pubs on Friday nights in my home town. It is moments like that which are very important, but they pale in comparison to the work done by volunteers throughout the country every day.
Across Ireland in every parish, village and town there are people who are quietly holding communities together. I have one example from Castlerea and I only raise it because I was told it was his birthday last night. A former county councillor, Danny Burke, celebrated his 87th birthday so I will take this chance to wish him a happy birthday. Danny is still active as a volunteer in his 88th year. He is out every week collecting funds for various charities and he will be out for Daffodil Day in the coming weeks, as the Minister of State mentioned. He also plays an active role in the Castlerea Brass and Reed Band, as well as promoting football with primary and secondary schools in the wider area. Danny represents something that is powerful, which is the passing of the baton from one generation to the next. Volunteers do not step forward for recognition, as the Minister of State said already. They step forward because they saw someone do it before them and they feel a responsibility to continue that work. This is what Irish volunteerism is and it is a tradition. It is something the national volunteering strategy rightly seeks to recognise and support.
The first strategy, introduced in 2020, was a landmark moment in recognising volunteering with a whole-of-government approach and recognising its true value to Irish society. It set out a vision of a country where volunteering is promoted, valued, supported and facilitated. It was only a few months after it was launched that Covid-19 hit and we saw the real value of communities, with community hubs, community dinners and meals on wheels. Volunteers, who were not able to do anything else at that time, put their shoulders to the wheel and went out and supported their communities.
We have made progress with the strategy but we also need to be honest because while volunteers give of their time freely, volunteering is not free. Increasingly, volunteering is becoming more difficult. We are asking more and more of fewer and fewer people. The paperwork, the governance requirements, the compliance and the grant applications are no longer small tasks. They are complex, time consuming and often overwhelming. Volunteers who once simply showed up to help are now expected to navigate systems that can make it feel like a full-time job. Even when funding is secured, spending that funding can be just as difficult. That cannot continue. We risk turning volunteers from something rooted in community and goodwill into something transactional and burdensome. That is not something volunteering should be. We also know that volunteer-led youth work is the backbone of youth engagement throughout Ireland. However, there insufficient support for recruitment, training and retention in that sector. Volunteers are essential but they cannot be taken for granted. They need support, structure and recognition. This includes proper investment in staffing within organisations, particularly where volunteers are working with vulnerable groups, because volunteers should never be left unsupported in roles that carry such responsibility.
I wish to make a very practical point today on matched funding. We often require community groups to provide matched funding to access grants but fail to recognise the value of the voluntary hours. The time given by volunteers, the evenings, the weekends and the countless unseen hours, has real value and should be recognised as such. Volunteer hours should count towards some element of matched funding because without those hours, many of these projects simply could not happen. We also need to support volunteers in a more structured and practical way. There is a clear need to better co-ordinate at local level in what has been described as a core hub approach bringing together volunteer centres, local development companies, PPNs and the sports partnerships in joined-up support. Not every volunteer is an expert in grant application writing, governance or compliance and nor should they have to be. We should be able to make it easier for people to get involved, and not harder.
As we look to the future of volunteering in Ireland I acknowledge a colleague of mine in Roscommon, Councillor Valerie Duffy, who raised the designation of 2026 as the International Year of Volunteers for Sustainable Development. Valerie sent me this earlier today.
Every day, millions of people around the world take actions - big and small - to make life better for others and for their communities. Whether is it mentoring young people, supporting local health efforts, working on graveyards or in Tidy Towns, or responding to emergencies, volunteers drive meaningful change in [our] communities.
Through their actions, volunteers become a force for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals - connecting people, strengthening resilience, and creating [a] lasting impact.
The United Nations has designated 2026 as the International Volunteer Year for Sustainable Development and this invites us to celebrate and recognise the incredible contribution of volunteers everywhere. It's a moment to raise awareness, spark conversations, and inspire even more people to get involved.
Volunteering Ireland is the lead for this initiative in Ireland in 2026 and they have a great campaign and pledge called 26 for 26! They are calling on the public to engage and volunteer for 26 hours during 2026. This is just over 2 hours per month! You could make a regular volunteering commitment, volunteer at home on your own schedule; or even at once-off events throughout the year.
The councillor refers to the Volunteering Ireland webpage, www.volunteer.ie , if people want more information on that. Councillor Duffy does substantial work with youth groups in County Roscommon and it is important to acknowledge and recognise that work.
As a volunteer, I acknowledge all of the wonderful work that is going on around us and also acknowledge the Minister of State's Department for providing access to funds to support all of these initiatives. Let us not lose sight of the people on the ground. Let us not lose sight of the job they signed up for and the reason they are doing it. Through all of the organisations I mentioned such as volunteer centres, local development companies and PPNs, the support to empower those volunteers to make the most of their efforts and of the funds available through the Minister of State's Department and other Departments is what we need to support.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-02-24/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:41+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-24