To put my role and the role of VSO in context, (in short) we are lobbying to convince the Ugandan Government to adopt a formal strategy on volunteering in the country and to put in place a legal framework to protect and promote volunteering. This is something that has already happened in countries like Lesotho, Namibia, Mozambique and is currently happening in Tanzania. The importance of such a development is critical for a number of reasons. Many volunteers in Uganda are exploited and essentially used as slave labour. This is something that gives volunteering a bad name and turns off potential volunteers. Additionally, the labour laws in Uganda actually seem to punish volunteering. If a Ugandan national volunteers his or her time in a hospital or school, for a certain number of hours a week, they are considered to be employees and therefore fall within the terms of the Employment Act. This means that they must be paid the minimum wage and avail of all of the usual benefits. This of course defeats the purpose of volunteering. Hospitals and other institutions are forced to give up essential volunteers because they cannot afford to keep them on.

Another important issue is youth unemployment. Currently 470,000 young people are graduating from second or third level education according to the Ugandan Government. Of these only about 70,000 can secure jobs. The rest of these bright young people are destitute, frustrated and without hope. A concerted and strategic approach by the Government could see thousands and thousands of these young people placed with NGOs, public bodies and corporate entities in a formal volunteering capacity for a period of time after graduation. Such a programme could lead to the development of new skills, the acquirement of much needed experience for job seekers and could assist young people in preparing for future employment. This would foster a greater sense of self-confidence in young Ugandans, develop a sense of optimism and hope and would contribute enormously to the local community and the local economy.

Over my twelve day period in Kampala, I will be meeting with NGOs who benefit from volunteering to hear their experience. Many of these are members of NAVE (National Alliance for Volunteering Efforts) an umbrella body set up in 2008 to coordinate the agenda of these organisations. I will meet with donors such as JICA, (the Japan International Cooperation Agency), Irish Aid and the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) in order to impress upon them the need to factor in the volunteering agenda in all of their discussions and meetings with the various Government Ministries. I will also meet with the Minister and officials in the Department of Gender, Labour and Social Affairs as this is considered to be the key Department in the quest to advance the notion of a national strategy for volunteering.

Standards in Public Life and Accountability

When I was a child, I had a rare and rather strange interest in politics and all aspects of current affairs. Believe it or not, as a child of six or seven, I was fascinated by everything to do with the business of politics. Perhaps even more bizarrely, I truly believed that a politician could make a genuine difference to the country.

I grew up in the era of Garret and Charlie. (more…)

The Government recently introduced legislation to facilitate the dissolution of the board of St. Luke’s hospital and the transfer of staff in the hospital and the hospital’s assets and liabilities to the HSE. Lucinda expressed her concern at this development:

“In contrast to the HSE, St. Luke’s Hospital, otherwise known as “The Haven in Rathgar”, is a beacon, a shining light, in the administrative labyrinth that is the health services here. Since 1954, when it was formally established, St. Luke’s has provided the best quality of care for its patients and the best possible services to cancer patients from all over the country. Every family has been touched in some way by St. Luke’s Hospital. Virtually every family has had some family member or friend attend St. Luke’s at some point. Yet, St. Luke’s is to cease operation in 2014. It is all very well to point to expert reports, expert opinion and the most cutting edge of medical advice, but it is difficult to explain to even the most intelligent human beings why the Government wants to dismantle one of the few public hospitals that functions and does its job with aplomb and replace it with a subsumed and submerged cancer service that will be provided via St. James’s Hospital. The latter does not rank as one of the top hospitals in terms of hygiene, services available or its ethos and environment. (more…)

The Adoption Bill 2009 and inter-country adoption

The Adoption Bill completed its passage through Dail Eireann on Wednesday 29th June and after passing through the Seanad was signed into law by the President in July.

The Bill will not come into force until formal Ministerial Orders are made and administrative arrangements put in place to change the Adoption Board into the Adoption Authority with the appointment of the appropriate persons to that Authority. The likely commencement date for the Bill i.e. the date on which it will come into force, is the 1st October 2010. Until that date the current law continues to apply.

The coming into force of the Bill will give effect to the Hague Convention on Inter-Country Adoption in the State. (more…)

Taoiseach and Government Ministers Must Be Accountable to Oireachtas on Key EU Decisions

A report published today by a Sub-Committee of European Affairs and European Scrutiny Committees, chaired by Lucinda Creighton TD makes a series of recommendations which would overhaul the current system of interaction between the Houses of the Oireachtas and the EU.

Click here to open the report.

In total, the report makes twenty-eight recommendations which aim to address the disconnect which exists between Oireachtas business and the EU and advises how best to exploit the new powers granted to the Oireachtas under the Lisbon Treaty

Among its proposals is a requirement that in future, Ministers must attend the relevant Oireachtas Committee to explain their decisions and get input from TDs and Senators prior to their attendance an upcoming EU Council meetings. It also suggests that the Taoiseach should answer questions in the Dáil in advance of EU Summit meetings and not after as is the current practice.

Sub-Committee Chairperson, Lucinda Creighton TD said:

“The current system whereby the majority Government Ministers do not account to the Oireachtas on decisions they take on behalf of Ireland at EU meetings is highly undemocratic. It also feeds into this notion of a “democratic deficit” existing between Ireland and the EU. (more…)