Summary of ideas submitted in the Social and voluntary category…

• Graduates should be required to give one or two years’ service to Irish State in field they have qualified in return for their free education.
• Graduates without a job to continue to receive social welfare if they do volunteer work.
• Have a certain percentage of all commercial buildings available at no/low rent for social enterprise.
• Have a community spring cleaning day.
• Have an on-the-ground practitioner and therapist for disadvantaged families.
• Have bright ideas clubs for all ages in schools.
• Have people on social welfare do volunteer work.
• Have unemployed people give community service.
• Have unemployed people give home help.
• Hearing aids for all nursing home residents.
• Help Ireland Back on Its Feet Fund, as we did with Live Aid.
• Helping people to create their own vegetable plots and to grow food for themselves.
• Hotels to be used as nursing homes.
• If you are on the dole, you can get a small premium if you volunteer to work in one of the state community projects.
• Improve community relations.
• Individuals should be given six weeks max to find employment (not training!) - otherwise all benefits end. No contributions = no payments.
• Instead of cutting prices in clothes shops, give the clothes to the homeless.
• Instead of fishermen dumping fish which surpass the quota, donate them to community organisations.
• Introduce a minimum best practice standard for healthcare.
• Introduce a project of ‘rent-and-buy’ a property.
• Ireland Citizenteer Programme, requires the cooperation and goodwill of Irish citizens to come together on a voluntary basis to become an ‘Ireland Citizenteer’ for one day per month.
• Joint local authority/bank scheme for developers to apply to the housing authority to complete unfinished units and sell units directly at fixed price to local authorities for social and affordable housing.
• Keep in work scheme. Abolish children’s allowances for certain individuals.
• Let older people (over 55) have a choice to work three days a week and devote their extra time to voluntary work.
• Let people in council housing take in a lodger who is on rent allowance and give them a reduction in their rent. You save on rent allowance.
• Local GAA club members to visit older people.
• Local lotteries.
• Lodge for Ireland, specifically to help reduce our National Debt.
• Loose change collection bins inside the main doors of all large supermarkets.
• Make courses available immediately for social welfare recipients.
• Make it easier on people getting parking at train stations by making it free.
• Make the people who are on the dole work for their money.
• Making a sacrifice for the sake of another person.
• Male adults in the congregation to give one night each a year to help the homeless.
• Marketing campaign on positive points of Ireland.