Community Development Projects

10. Deputy Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht the measures his Department is taking to support the thousands of volunteers who deliver community development activities throughout rural Ireland, particularly to administration, governance, insurance and rising operating costs. [72529/26]

As the Minister knows, our society is held together by an army of volunteers. Tens of thousands of people give up their time in the areas of sport, recreation, community heritage, the environment, active retirement, etc. What measures is the Department taking to support the thousands of volunteers who do this throughout rural Ireland, especially given all the complications with administration, governance and insurance? These are really tripping people up and it should not be like that. It is very unfair and they need supports.

I thank the Deputy for the question. I agree completely that our country is bound by the sheer strength of the volunteering. I met the community centres network last week. I will give the Deputy a figure; 6,707 community volunteers are on call. There were 29,008 hours logged by community volunteers last year. The Minister and I are very committed, as I have said. This week we launched Ar Scáth a Chéile, the Government's new five-year strategy to support the community and voluntary sector. I thank the Minister as well as the Minister of State, Deputy Harkin, and the team in our Department led by Kieran Moylan for the launch of this document, which is a strategy based on consultation. The strategy has a clear vision and a mission for the 2026 to 2030 period that supports inclusive and cohesive communities and reaffirms our Government's commitment to the sector as a fundamental part of the fabric of our communities, be they urban or rural. Our Department recognises the vital role volunteers play. Our national volunteering strategy was published in 2020. A new strategy is almost complete and we are about to launch it. In the budget for this year our Department received an allocation €260 million, which will support community development initiatives. That is an amount of money the Minister and I fought for and secured as part of our €628 million budget. As Deputy Ó Súilleabháin knows, under the local enhancement programme we provide small grants for community organisations. The LEP grant will increase by €2 million for next year to assist community groups with what the Deputy spoke about - insurance, energy and other operating costs. That is on top of the €74 million we have secured for SICAP, which we spoke about earlier. As a Government we are committed to the SSNO scheme, which supports 92 national community and voluntary organisations to the end of 2029. We are working to assist our urban and rural communities, recognising there are challenges. Our budget allocation, our advocacy and our support illustrate our commitment in terms of money and strategy, which I know the Deputy will support.

Groups are getting strangled by bureaucracy and red tape. I would not blame them for throwing in the towel when they are organising a St. Patrick's Day parade or any event, putting up Christmas lights or organising children's discos or sports clubs. All over Wicklow and Wexford, groups are dropping out because they say they give up their time but obstacles are put in their way to trip them up. They are strangled by bureaucracy, governance, over-regulation and administration. It is very unfair. Then there are insurance costs. The insurance cartel really needs to be taken on because it is a huge obstacle for groups. Say you are organising a St. Patrick's Day parade; the insurance requirements and red tape tied up with it are such that people ask why they would bother. Something needs to be done about the insurance cartel in this country. It needs to be taken on and reined in. Eventually, the fabric of Irish society will fall apart. This army of tens of thousands of volunteers is holding the country together, basically. Many people will say, "Why bother? Every obstacle is being put in my way." Something really needs to be done about that.

The Deputy makes a fair point. We spoke earlier about the burden the Irish Men's Sheds Association bears in terms of distribution of money. We are committed to making it easier. The Minister spoke about the LEADER programme with Deputy Ó Snodaigh and the cumbersome burden involved. We must balance the need for distribution of Exchequer funding with accountability and transparency, but the Deputy is right. I share his view because I am involved in my own communities. We must make it easier for people to apply for grants and to do their work. I see in schools, GAA clubs and community associations that there is a concern about insurance - not just the cost of insurance but the cost of litigation as well. People who are doing voluntary work can fall. We even see it in our political parties. They put up posters and they might fall off a ladder. It does happen. We must make sure we do not lose the volunteer. I am very conscious of that, as is the Minister. That is why I met with the community and voluntary sector and why we launched the strategy last week. If you speak to people in volunteer centres, they will tell you it is about giving people an opportunity and that people will then come. The points the Deputy makes are valid and I look forward to working with him on addressing some of those issues.

I welcome that but just as we are talking about simplification in the area of farming, it has to be the same for community groups. Simplification is crucial. The Minister of State made a point on litigation. Something needs to be done about the culture of litigation in this country. Say you are organising a St. Patrick's Day parade in a village or any other event. There are a huge number of vintage events in Wexford and Wicklow. People are giving up their time freely, jumping through hoops and putting together vast documents - safety statements, event plans, etc. - but they should not have to do that. Someone should not be able to just come along. It does not happen in every country. We take it as normal that you can just go up and sue somebody for anything in this country. What happens then is people just say they cannot take the risk. We need to do something about that. The culture of litigation needs to be wiped out.

The most important point is we must always support and work with our community and voluntary sector, whether it is the vintage rally, the Christmas markets that will be coming up soon, the bazaar or the sporting event. Without volunteers, these events will not happen. We are committed to ensuring we do not overburden the organising group or committee. Obviously, there is a need for health and safety and we cannot abandon that, but the Deputy is right about the overall thrust of litigation. I am very conscious of costs. In the budget the Minister, Deputy Calleary, and I secured an extra €2 million to ensure community organisations get support for energy around insurance. If we look at the budget allocation for the Department, it builds not only on the Government's commitment but on the Minister's commitment, and mine, to support our community and voluntary sector. We want to see the sector secure. We also want to see people enriched by participation in communities. As Deputy Ó Súilleabháin and I know, our communities are better because of the community and voluntary sector. I look forward to working with all Members of the House to ensure we continue to have this on a sustainable footing, whereby that sector will be creative and we will have the Christmas lights, the St. Patrick's Day parades, the vintage rallies, the bazaars and whatever else. Without them our communities are poorer.