PRESS RELEASE
Immediate release: 17 March 2020
Issued by The Wheel
COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANISATIONS WILL PLAY KEY ROLE IN IMPLEMENTATION OF NATIONAL ACTION PLAN ON COVID-19, ACCORDING TO THE WHEEL
Charity sector will work with the government in coming days to support and clarify details of the plan which was published late yesterday
The Wheel, Ireland’s national association of community and voluntary organisations, has welcomed the Government’s National Action Plan in response to COVID-19. The plan, which was published late yesterday (16 March), is aimed at “adopting a nationwide cohesive approach, in close collaboration with voluntary and community organisations, such as charities, local voluntary groups, volunteers” to “contribute to the national effort in supporting those more vulnerable people in their communities”.
Commenting on the publication of the National Action Plan, Deirdre Garvey, CEO of The Wheel said, “Community and voluntary organisations, charities and social enterprises are heavily involved in providing essential services in Ireland, and while not public sector organisations, they are doing similar work and facing the same challenges in identifying and responding to the needs of vulnerable people. In the document, the Government very clearly acknowledge community and voluntary organisations will be at the heart of the State’s coordinated response to COVID-19 and this is very welcome because these organisations very much welcome the important role that they are and will be continuing to play in addressing this national emergency. It is important, therefore that these organisations can contribute their expertise to planning and decisions making, said Deirdre Garvey.
The National Action Plan outlines several key actions that will require the involvement of Ireland’s 29,000 charities, community and voluntary organisations and social enterprises. Specifically, the plan notes the importance of:
- promoting empathetic community engagement
- supporting community solidarity activity
- maintaining essential health and social services (which many community and voluntary organisations already deliver in partnership with the State)
- expanding and protecting public and private sector workers involved in essential services (including employees of community and voluntary organisations)
- clarifying arrangements for public service special leave
- ensuring business continuity plans are in place for all agencies and bodies under the aegis of all government departments
- continued payment of childcare subsidies to providers for services directed to close, and
- providing a range of liquidity and loan finance to SMEs.
Ms Garvey added, “We will be working closely with the Government to ensure that community and voluntary organisations have access to the necessary resources to implement these actions, and to enable them to continue operating existing services, retain, recruit and re-allocate key staff in response to emerging needs.
“It is important that headings in the plan such as ‘Business Continuity Planning across the Public Service’ and ‘Economy employment and business supports’ consider the sector’s requirements, as the charity sector absolutely needs to maintain or increase the level of trained and specialised staff to deliver key services.
“In addition, it is essential that health and social care charities are involved in issues such as developing protocols for staff dealing with potentially high-risk cases,” Deirdre Garvey said.
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NOTES FOR EDITORS
About The Wheel
The Wheel is Ireland’s national association of charities, community and voluntary organisation and social enterprises and charitable organisations. With over 1,700 members, it is the largest representative body for the charity, community, voluntary and social enterprise sector. Visit www.wheel.ie for more information. Follow us on Twitter.
