National Volunteering Strategy: Statements
Seanad Éireann — 2026-02-24
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Joanne Collins (SF), Agricultural Panel

I do not know why but I do. Organising events is what I enjoy.
There is one organisation that I would have to put above a lot of organisations that I know, and that would be ALONE. It does amazing work. I went through Garda vetting to become a volunteer with ALONE. It turned out I could not fulfil that because my mother's dementia was so progressive that I said I would use my ALONE hours to spend time at home with family and look after her, but it is an amazing organisation. It does such good, especially in rural areas where you have a lot of houses that would not have a next-door neighbour or someone coming to the house every day or once a week just to spend an hour with people. The social side of it is what is so important.
I will leave it there and pass over to my colleague.

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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