The new Task Force on Active Citizenship is to make recommendations to encourage greater involvement by citizens in all aspects of life within nine months, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said yesterday.
Speaking as the first meeting of the group took place in Dublin, Mr Ahern said everybody was aware of the economic success Ireland had enjoyed over the last number of years.
"I think it is now timely for us all, as a nation, to examine the wider issues of what it means to be an Irish citizen in the 21st century," he said.
Mr Ahern announced a year ago that he would set up such a body, and he announced the names of its 20 members last month. The initiative is a response to the decline in the numbers participating in and volunteering to organise a range of social and community activities.
"I feel that increased participation by the individual in this type of activity helps to cultivate a strong civic spirit which is hugely beneficial to the individual as well as to their communities," Mr Ahern said.
Mary Davis, chief executive of Special Olympics Ireland, chairs the taskforce.