About 37.1% of the total population, about 4,234,925 people, volunteer in Ireland. The figure is revealed by a project called Hidden Landscape, First Forays into Mapping Non Profit Organisations in Ireland, carried out by the Centre for non Profit Management at Trinity College, Dublin in 2006.
The average number of volunteers for each organisation is 15. Male volunteers outnumber female by a ratio of more than three to one. The research also highlights that the role of volunteers is more important in organisations that work in sports and recreation, environment, arts and culture and faith based activities than in other field of activities.
The research Volunteering and Volunteers in Ireland, the sixth report realized by the Parliament of Ireland in 2005, says that the replacement costs of volunteer labour range from 200 to 500 million euros and considering the value of volunteering 72% of people respondents to the survey feel that volunteers offer something that could never be provided by paid professionals.
