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Launch of the DIT Certificate in Volunteering Programme Speech for Minister of State, Noel Ahern T.D.

at the Launch of the
DIT Certificate in Volunteering Programme
Monday 27th November 2006 at 11.00am

I am delighted to be here today to formally launch the DIT Certificate in Volunteering and would like to thank Dr. Tommy Cooke and the team here in DIT for their kind invitation to attend this important event.  

I would like to commence by complimenting all of the people involved in getting this pilot project off the ground and to applaud you for positively meeting the recommendations contained in the 2004 Report Volunteers and Volunteering Ireland carried out by the Joint Committee on Arts, Sport, Tourism, Rural & Gaeltacht Affairs. 

DIT, in common with the other third-level institutions, has played a key role in providing a highly qualified, skilled and well-balanced workforce to meet the needs of companies setting up here.  Education, however, must go beyond the formal educational needs of students. 

We must have a balanced approach to the way we educate our students, including encouraging good and active citizenship.  The benefits for students are that the quality of their overall learning is improved and their understanding of the ethos of good citizenship is enhanced.  However, the most exciting practical prospect is the opportunity provided to students to work on the ground with organisations involved in voluntary activity. 

We as a nation got a wake up call in the 1990’s when statistics showed a falloff in the numbers of people involved in volunteering. However recent figures from our Volunteer Bureaux show a healthy increase in numbers.  I believe that people are sometimes just waiting for the opportunity to come forward and volunteer.

Most of us will give money to charity, but giving time is harder, yet in many ways far more rewarding.  And everyone - however rich or poor - has time to give.  We also have so much to offer our communities.  Each of us has a passion.  It might be for business, for sport, for music, for gardening, or simply for working with other people.  Each of these talents and passions has a role in volunteering within the community.

As the Minister with responsibility for volunteering I am acutely aware of the huge volume of work that is carried out by community and voluntary groups throughout the country.   That is why my Department supports initiatives such as the Volunteer Bureaux where people can find out about volunteering opportunities, and where organisations can source volunteers.  It also supports the Young Social Innovators Programme aimed at transition year students and the Community Learning Programme, which is run here in DIT.

I understand that the Certificate in Volunteering will combine the learning that takes place in the voluntary sector with a series of classroom modules tailored specifically to the sector.  The modules include Personal Effectiveness, Leadership, Project Management, Negotiation, Ethics, and Social Responsibility among many others.  I know that prospective students for the pilot phase will be recruited from DIT’s clubs and societies and from Dr. Tommy Cooke’s very successful Community Links Programme, which has been in existence since 1997.

A distinguishing feature of the Certificate will be its delivery strategy, which will incorporate the use of computer graphics and game based learning.  This is a new departure in learning that will provide multi-faceted benefits for the learner and will no doubt prove to be a success.

It is notable that one of the seven aims of the certificate is to form the basis for the development of a DIT degree-level course in Active Citizenship.  In May last we saw the launch by the Taoiseach of the Task Force on Active Citizenship, with citizen participation and engagement as key areas to be examined by the Task Force.   In our new Social Partnership Agreement, Towards 2016, we again see explicit reference to the huge value placed on developing volunteering. 

The Community and Voluntary sector currently provides over €2.5 billion worth of services on a not-for-profit basis to Irish society. These services include social care, childcare, eldercare, health services, education, environmental, cultural, artistic and countless other activities.
Everyone here will also be aware that without volunteers, these activities which are so essential to a healthy and vibrant society would simply not exist.

It is for this reason that the support of a project like this for volunteering is very important.  Equally, this project will enable people who want to get involved in voluntary work to identify organisations with whom they can work.   It is precisely for this reason that the Government has given a commitment to provide an additional €5m per annum to support Volunteering within the Community & Voluntary Sector.

I will conclude by thanking you again for the invitation to be here, and wishing you the very best with the Programme which I look forward to seeing in other third level institutions over the coming years.