The Deputy will be aware that the Government decided in 2002, on foot of a recommendation contained in the report of the Ireland Aid Review Committee, to integrate the Agency for Personal Service Overseas, APSO, into the Department of Foreign Affairs. This decision has been implemented and the functions and responsibilities of the former APSO are now being carried out by Development Co-operation Ireland. These include the facilitation of voluntary service as part of an overall poverty reduction strategy in our development co-operation programme; support for the activities of NGOs and missionary groups, which includes volunteer sending and placement of expatriate personnel overseas; and the safeguarding of the interests of development workers and volunteers in development.
I launched the volunteer 21 initiative, a reference to volunteering in development in the 21st century, in December 2003 to provide support for voluntary activity by Irish people in developing countries. On 21 April, I hosted a multi-stakeholder conference to take forward the consultation process on these issues. Practical and financial support for volunteers in developing countries is being provided by a volunteer 21 unit, comprising staff of the former APSO, within Development Co-operation Ireland.
In preparation for the initiative which I launched last December, there were contacts at official level with the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. Officials from that Department also took part in the conference on 21 April. The question of whether a single agency is required to promote voluntary activity at home and abroad is a matter on which the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs will no doubt have views. I am confident, however, that the arrangements which I have put in place, and which take forward the excellent work done by APSO, will ensure that the specialist support needed by Irish voluntary workers in the development field abroad will be delivered efficiently.
