National Volunteering Strategy: Statements Seanad Éireann — 2026-02-24 ============================================================ Malcolm Noonan (GP), Agricultural Panel -----being allowed to come in at this stage but I felt it was important to speak on this matter. I am conscious that today is Susie Long's 60th birthday. Susie was a good friend and for those who may not remember, her courage in speaking out on the Joe Duffy show about her delayed cancer diagnosis after he read out her letter resonated with families all over Ireland and beyond. She spoke about the need for the ending of the geographic lottery for hospice care in Ireland. She found herself lucky in that she was cared for by the wonderful staff and volunteers of St. Francis Hospice in Harold's Cross and indeed we invaded the hospice ourselves with guitars to join her there. Susie herself was a lifelong volunteer and she did not just take up being a campaigner when she became ill. She was a secretary of the Home Birth Association of Ireland. She was a member of our local Friends of the Earth group. She was a volunteer with development education groups in Kilkenny and an active member of Amnesty International Ireland. Right up to the end of her life Susie was a volunteer. She embodied the volunteering spirit and so I wish Susie a heavenly happy birthday. Gan dabht tá luach ollmhór ag oibrithe deonacha dár bpobail timpeall na tíre. In my former role I saw the immense contribution of conservation volunteers across the country, from the Maharees to Killarney National Park, Abbeyleix and Ardee, Hometree in County Clare to the Acorn Project of my home county of Kilkenny. The Minister of State mentioned the wildlife rescues he visited and they do amazing work. It was in conservation work I found my love of volunteering; removing invasive species, doing bat counts, curating school gardens, tree planting and restoring river habitats. That love of volunteering led me onto voluntary boards and into other volunteer activity. Like many a volunteer, we do so because we get that sense of satisfaction from knowing we are not innocent bystanders and the best antidote to despair is action. I want to say a huge míle buíochas to the tens of thousands of people of all ages who volunteer in so many organisations across Ireland. There are people from new communities also who see volunteering as a wonderful way of integrating and feeling part of the community. I ask the Minister of State to take that on board. It is really important that new communities are included in the strategy. I will speak briefly on an area of volunteering I feel is important and that is volunteering with and among our young people. My own son Colm is taking after his dad and volunteering with the Kilkenny No Name Club. He absolutely loves it. Volunteer-led youth work is hugely important. It is vital to our young people. I have worked in that sector myself and the majority are young people engaging through our volunteer-led youth clubs, yet, there is insufficient support for volunteer recruitment, retention, training and development. Volunteers are essential to sustaining youth work infrastructure, particularly in rural communities and community-based settings. The launch of the first volunteering strategy was a landmark step in recognising the unique contribution of volunteers. It is a whole-of-government policy introducing a comprehensive set of measures to ensure sustainability and development of volunteering across society. I pay tribute again to the national network of volunteer centres. As has been said, the issue of burn-out and the issues around compliance and due diligence in voluntary boards needs to be addressed but that support for our youth service in particular is absolutely essential. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. 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