Vol. 563 No. 5
117 Mr. Gormley asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the discussions which have taken place between his Department and the Central Statistics Office regarding the availability of data on the extent and degree of voluntary activity here. [8202/03]
The White Paper on Supporting Voluntary Activity, published in 2000, acknowledged the important role and unique strengths of the community and voluntary sector. The establishment of the national committee on volunteering in November 2000 was an additional and complementary initiative of the Government.
The committee published its report Tipping The Balance in October 2002. The report is extremely detailed and comprehensive, covering many aspects of volunteering, and contains wide-ranging recommendations which impact on many State and other bodies.
The report, inter alia, recommended the ongoing collection of data on volunteering through the census and quarterly national household surveys. Officials in my Department are currently considering the recommendations in the report. The question of discussions with relevant Departments and agencies on issues arising from the examination of the report will be considered on conclusion of that process.
