Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 15 February 2024
34. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media to provide an outline of measures taken by her Department and its relevant agencies to encourage volunteering in sport. [7030/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraThrough Dormant Accounts funding, Sport Ireland has a dedicated fund, "Volunteer Supports", to which the Local Sports Partnerships (LSPs) and National Governing Bodies of Sport (NGBs) can apply for funding. The "Volunteer Supports" initiative aims to identify and assist targeted individuals who are volunteering in disadvantaged communities or with people with disabilities to gain community sport and physical activity leadership skills e.g. as coaches, leaders, referees, committee members. This initiative can also target secondary school aged learners who wish to develop their leadership skills.
This funding stream is intended to support individuals to operate in a volunteer capacity within disadvantaged communities or with people with disabilities. Opportunities are extended to support individuals who are under-represented at all levels of volunteering, including ethnic minorities, asylum seekers and refugees, Traveller and Roma, women and girls, and people with a disability. In 2023, there was a total investment of €1,260,000 on these volunteer-related initiatives.
Sports volunteering is afforded a high priority in our plans to develop sport in Ireland. Last month, I launched a new Sport Ireland Policy on Volunteering in Sport. This new policy, which was developed following a highly consultative process, identifies a wide range of initiatives to empower the sport sector to tackle the challenges currently faced through clear, evidence-based and data-driven solutions. The policy has identified four key policy objectives:
• Diversify the Volunteer Base.
• Recruit and Grow the Volunteer Population.
• Retain Volunteers and Encourage Lifelong Volunteering.
• Recognise and Value Volunteers.
To address the target areas and to achieve the identified objectives there are several important actions that Sport Ireland will take, as set out below:
Investment in NGBs, LSPs and funded bodies to improve the volunteer experience.
Resource professional roles across the sport sector.
Establish a Volunteer in Sport Working Group.
Create a Volunteer in Sport Digital Resource.
Sport Ireland will lead on the implementation of this policy, and will work closely with the sport sector and key partners to deliver on its commitments. The next steps in the implementation phase of the policy will be communicated to all stakeholders in the coming weeks.
