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Seanad
‹ Order of Business

National volunteering initiatives

Summary

Senators highlight National Volunteering Week, the strong contribution of volunteers and efforts through volunteer centres and LinkedIn to connect people with opportunities.

I met representatives of the volunteer centre in Galway this morning as part of a briefing on National Volunteering Week 2015. They outlined the progress they have made. Ireland ranks very highly with regard to voluntarism. Approximately 20% of people in this country do not volunteer because they do not know where to access volunteering opportunities or how to get involved in the process. Those involved in National Volunteering Week will outline how people can access voluntary services and get involved in their local communities. Their partnership with LinkedIn will allow them to connect with 1.2 million members to advertise volunteering roles. This significant asset will benefit people who want to apply their skills to local charity groups and organisations, as well as improving their own employability prospects and their professional experience. There is a demand for people with skills in information technology, customer service, event management and education and training. Volunteer Ireland intends to launch a volunteer finder system that will enable charities and organisations to find volunteers with specific skills to help them. Volunteer Ireland is to be commended on this initiative. I wish it every success.

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The volunteer issue raised by Senator Hildegarde Naughton is an important one. As politicians, we would not be anywhere without the volunteers we have. When I was the mayor of South Dublin County Council, I created the South Dublin volunteer mayoralty award. I commend Senator Naughton on recognising all the people who work in volunteer offices in each county.

I look forward to some positive news on behalf of mortgage holders. Many Senators have spoken on this issue. We await the good news in this regard. It is badly needed.

I would like to bring to the attention of customers everywhere in Ireland this morning's report that Toyota and Nissan are withdrawing 5 million cars with defective airbags. Some of those cars are in Ireland. Toyota Ireland is withdrawing 27,000 cars that it manufactured. I want to publicise this news which has just been released. Toyota Ireland will be contacting the 27,000 people in Ireland who have Yaris, Corolla and Avensis Verso models that were produced between April 2004 and 2007. If one has a model that was manufactured outside those years, one does not need to worry. Toyota has stated people can contact its office. It wants to bring to the attention of the public that this recall pertains to the driver-side airbag. I am using this forum to do so. We all know that Toyota and Nissan cars, including the Yaris, are very safe. The fact that they are recalling them is a plus on their side because there is no national legislation saying they should do so or must do so. It is right to bring this to the attention of anyone who is driving one of these cars manufactured between 2004 and 2007. I will not mention the names of the models again. The other one is the Yaris that was produced between 2003 and November 2005.

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