VOTERS WANT CHARITIES TO HAVE A SAY IN GOVERNMENT POLICY, SURVEY FINDS

The NFP Synergy survey of 1000 adults found that 50% believe charities and civil society groups should be more involved in deciding national policy, while 57% believe that vulnerable people would be better protected if charities had more of a say.

“The next government can not afford to ignore Ireland’s 19,000 community and voluntary organisations. Without these organisations the state could not meet the needs of the most vulnerable people in society,” said Deirdre Garvey, Chief Executive of The Wheel, a representative body which represents nearly 900 community and voluntary groups.

Ms Garvey added that there is a need for a structured dialogue between Government and the community and voluntary sector: “We need to develop a culture of effective partnership-working between voluntary organisations and state bodies when they work together to design and deliver services for the public benefit.

“The community and voluntary sector has an important role to play in the reform of public services. They are innovators in involving service-users in designing and delivering flexible, value-for-money, person-centred outcomes. We ask all political parties to commit to involving community and voluntary organisations in reforming our public services to ensure the service-user is at the heart of our public services and to get the maximum value for money from scarce public funds,” she said.

The Wheel is calling for the inclusion of the following in the election manifestos of all political parties:
We call for the inclusion of the following in the manifestos of all political parties:

1 - A statement articulating the importance and value of the community and voluntary sector.
2 - Prioritisation of services for the clients of community and voluntary organisations
3 - Dedicated support for the community and voluntary sector through:

(a) Establishing a new framework for partnership working to deepen the relationship with the community and voluntary sector.
(b) Rolling out sensitive and supportive regulation through the Charities Act 2009.
(c) Providing a comprehensive range of practical supports for staff and volunteers working in and governing charities.
(d) Providing public funding sufficient for community and voluntary groups to deliver the social outcomes Irish society has a right to (e.g. establish multi-annual funding as the norm, so as to allow for advance planning).

“If we want to develop and support sustainable communities that underpin an equal and just Ireland, then we must support voluntary activity in a comprehensive and coherent manner. This will be achieved when Government involves community, voluntary and charitable groups in its policy decisions,” said Ms Garvey.

NOTE TO EDITORS:

Deirdre Garvey, Chief Executive of The Wheel is available for interview. Contact Gert Ackermann on Tel: 086 176 9287 or email gert@wheel.ie. The Wheel is a national support and representative organisations for community, voluntary and charitable groups. www.wheel.ie. Find us on Facebook or Twitter to receive updates.

The survey is based on a nationally representative sample of 1,000 adults aged 16+ in the Republic of Ireland. Telephone fieldwork took place between 12 November and 15 December 2010.Online fieldwork took place between 15 November and 9 December 2010. The sample of 1,000+ is robust enough for us to be 95% sure that results are representative of the wider Irish public aged 16+ (about 3,376,000 individuals) within a 0.6%- 3.1% margin of error. It was conducted on behalf of the Irish Charity Engagement Monitor (ICEM), a consortium of Irish charities.