Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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7. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development her plans to support the development of women’s sheds in Ireland; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49403/21]

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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My question relates to women's sheds. I have been contacted by a group of women in Tuam who want to set up a women's shed. They want to know where to go to get State support. Men's sheds groups have been successful throughout the country and have been strongly supported by the Department. In that context, we should consider supporting women's sheds. I look forward to the Minister's response.

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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I thank the Deputy for his question. The emergence of the women's sheds groups in recent years has been a positive development for communities throughout the country. My Department supports sheds through many funding programmes that are open to a variety of groups and organisations. These include the community enhancement programme, CEP, the social inclusion and community activation programme, SICAP, and the LEADER transitional programme. In 2019, my Department established a ring-fenced fund of €500,000 for men's and women's sheds under the CEP. While the ring-fenced fund is no longer in place all community groups, including women's sheds, can apply to the programme. The 2021 CEP allocated a total of €4.5 million to community groups and it is hoped to run the programme again in future.

My Department also funds local development companies under the SICAP so that they can support the most marginalised in society. This includes work with women and the groups that represent them. Funding for women's shed groups may also be available through the LEADER transitional programme, which will cover the period 2021 to 2022. This programme provides funding under a broad range of themes, including enterprise development and social inclusion. Interested applicants should contact the relevant local action group through its implementing partner to discuss the eligibility of the project.

In general, I would encourage women's sheds groups to engage with the local authority and the local development company in their area to ensure they are made aware of funding opportunities from my Department and across government and State agencies as they become available.

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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Initially when I was praising the Minister, I inadvertently left the Minister of State out of the equation. Every Department needs a good team and I am delighted that the Minister of State is doing a great job in the Department. I thank him for his reply. It is important to ensure that women's sheds get parity of esteem and the same quality of service as men's sheds. Women need to have places to meet, chat, do community work and become involved to give them a sense of belonging. I welcome the fact that funding is being made available through the CEP. The Minister of State said that he hopes the programme will be run again soon. Does he have any idea when it will reopen for applications?

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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In response to the previous question, I cannot give the Deputy an estimate on that. We run the programme every year, at the very least. I fully agree that women's sheds should have parity of esteem. I visited an excellent women's shed in Wexford recently. The sheds make a great contribution in giving people an opportunity to come together, which is particularly important in rural communities where such opportunities, especially during Covid, are limited. I fully agree with the Deputy's point on parity of esteem.

I urge him to make the group that contacted him aware that there is precedent in Galway for funding men's sheds. There are sheds in Loughrea, Headford, Moycullen and Cornamona. When the group approaches the local authority with regard to various funding streams, it would be wise to reference the fact that there is precedent there in terms of CEP funding for such projects.

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State for that. When women's sheds are starting out, they do not know where to go for funding. The first port of call for information is the local authority. It would also be important to register with the Public Participation Networks, PPN. It is important to give groups as much information as possible. We will also look into the possibility of getting assistance from the rural development company. The message is clear that the Department supports women's sheds. I invite the Minister of State to come to Tuam to meet the women involved at some stage in the future.

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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I wish to take the opportunity to again ask the Minister and Minister of State to consider restoring the funding that was specifically for sheds, for both men and women, as part of the CEP. The last time I raised this matter, I had visited the men's shed in Ballaghaderreen. The issue is that sheds are applying under different funding streams here and there. They might get something but then again, they might get nothing. I would love to see a dedicated fund for men's and women's sheds given the important role they play, particularly in rural communities where there may be lots of people living alone with no family close by. The sheds help to tackle rural isolation for those living alone and they also play an important role in mental health. The Department should consider a co-funding arrangement with the Department of Health to guarantee funding for men's and women's sheds.

Otherwise, it makes it difficult to sustain them.

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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I support my colleagues on this issue and I will give a minor perspective on it. When these organisations are applying for funding, the funding coming in from local authorities is sometimes perceived to be ad hocand may not be transformative in terms of what they want to do, even though they are looking for modest amounts. If there was a core funding line coming from the Department, I would certainly join with my colleagues in supporting it.

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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I thank Deputy Canney for the invitation and I take the other Deputies' points as well. We support the national men's sheds organisation through the scheme to support national organisations, SSNO, and applications for that will be opening either late this year or early next year. That is just a point of information that may be useful.

On the question of sustainability, and I recall Deputy Kerrane's previous contribution on this, having a number of funding opportunities that are locally based and connected to the local authority where the knowledge is better than what we have centrally is a good route in terms of sustainability as well. However, I take the point about predictability. Relatively small funds can get a lot of men's and women's sheds off the ground and there a number of funds, not just the ones I have mentioned such as the CEP, SICAP and LEADER. Other Departments deal with this as well particularly in the area of mental health, and I would suggest looking at the Healthy Ireland initiative. Multiple funding streams are healthy as regards sustainability into the future.