National Volunteering Strategy: Statements Seanad Éireann — 2026-02-24 ============================================================ Nessa Cosgrove (LAB), Labour Panel I thank everyone again for letting me take this slot. Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit as well. It is no exaggeration to say that our society was built upon the work of volunteers. Ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine as they say after all. In the 2022 census, the CSO found that over 700,000 people in the State were regularly giving their time and expertise for a voluntary cause. That is incredible. We can see that in every town and village. We know they keep our services alive. It has been said too that the volunteers do the work that, for better or worse, the State has been unwilling or unable to do at the time. The resources that volunteering provides in terms of energy, personnel, finance and commitment would come at a very considerable cost to the State if it were to be sourced on the open market. We can all see the benefits. People who have volunteered themselves can see how much it contributes to society. It is well documented. We can also see how much we get ourselves from volunteering such as the physical and mental benefits and the career opportunities. I want to give a shout-out to our own Carrick-on-Shannon, which won Ireland's tidiest town award in the Tidy Towns competition and Sligo won the cleanest town award. These our volunteer-led services. Sligo Welcome Ambassadors is another volunteer group which shows people around the town. It is services like that and arts festivals that keep our towns and villages alive. I come from a community development background as does the Minister of State. That is why it was so welcome to see the Government publish the first national volunteering strategy in 2021. Over the last four years, it has been really welcome to have the whole-of-government policy recognising and promoting the value of volunteers in Irish society. I am delighted to hear of the commitment to a new strategy and we will be looking forward to hearing more about that and when it will be rolled out. We cannot leave voluntary organisations waiting without clarity. We know the last volunteering strategy was great but it was not perfect. Volunteer Ireland has pointed to several issues that need to be addressed. I know the Government has been listening to the feedback from Volunteer Ireland which, hopefully, will be addressed in the coming strategy. Recruitment and retention for voluntary organisations remain an issue. Often, organisations rely on the same people a lot. We are looking to support more organisations to incorporate flexibility into their volunteer programmes. That would be looking at supporting through public participation networks, PPNs, local development companies and the volunteer centres. At the time, Volunteer Ireland made the point based on its consultations that most organisations and volunteers consulted had never heard of a national volunteering strategy. It has also come up that there was going to be a full communications plan as part of the strategy and hopefully that will come along with this new strategy. From my own experience as a volunteer in youth work but also in the scouts, I can mention transport issues and the long complex Garda vetting process, which can often deter a lot of people. This also comes up from an artist's point of view or in the case of new communities coming in when they are trying to get Garda vetting if they lived in a country or even had a short stay somewhere. Particularly in art projects, you might be involved in one art project for one day and you have to go through the whole Garda vetting process if you are working with young people. The whole Garda vetting process is having an impact on volunteers. That is something that has come up when I have been working with arts organisations and with volunteer groups. We saw in 2022 the Immigrant Council of Ireland reported that 63% of migrants wanted to volunteer but they lacked information or there were cultural or language barriers. That is something I hope will be looked at. I want to give a shout-out to all the volunteers in my own community. I have a family and I would be lost without sport for my middle boy. I give a shout-out to all the volunteers in GAA groups, soccer and all the sports groups with which he is involved. I am not on my own as a parent thinking "Thank God for the GAA". This is from someone who would not have been the most massive or biggest fan in the world but I am now because I can see the benefits as a parent to have volunteer-led groups in one's own community, especially in rural Ireland where the opportunities in other areas might not always be there. Before I finish, I want to talk about the youth sector. I know this has come up before here. I am a big believer of mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí. One kind word to a young person can lead someone on a completely different path throughout their life. Volunteers are essential for sustaining youth work infrastructure. I worked as a project worker in target-led youth work but it is the volunteers who provide a lot of the services that bring young people in who might end up going into targeted youth work. From talking to the NYCI, there needs to be further investment in looking at how to support the club development. If organisations are not developed through having professional staff supporting the youth club development, they are often then at a loss. They might lose that whole grassroots sector, its reach of diversity and meeting young people where they are. That is why I would love to see clear, adequate funding for staff, particularly those who are dealing with volunteers in youth work services. It is a big investment. Often, it can be overlooked in youth services that looking at recruiting, managing staff and supervising a staff takes up a considerable amount of time. I hope this sector in particular will be looked at in this new strategy going forward. --- 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