National Volunteering Strategy: Statements
Seanad Éireann — 2026-02-24
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Jerry Buttimer (FG), Cork South-Central

He is probably canvassing as well to be fair to him; maybe both of them are doing that.
I thank all the Senators for their volunteering and what they do which is very important. As Minister of State but also as a person who grew up volunteering, I recognise our country is a better place for the contributions made by so many volunteers. Senator Flaherty mentioned the gentleman in Longford. Senator Scahill mentioned an 87-year-old man, a former councillor. We piggyback on them. The Government is committed to supporting and celebrating volunteers and volunteering because without them our country is a poorer place.
I thank the Seanad for having this debate tonight. We need to do more of this in the Oireachtas not in an adversarial way but in a way where we can learn from each other. I have taken notes and I will feed them back to our officials. Míle buíochas le gach Ball a ghlac páirt sa díospóireacht iontach seo.

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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