Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Senator for raising this important issue regarding Women's Sheds. I acknowledge the huge work she has put into this issue over many years and join her in acknowledging the fantastic work being done by women's and men's sheds throughout the country. This area of women's sheds is an important issue to many colleagues across government, in particular, the Minister, Deputy Foley, has been working strongly with me regarding women's sheds. As Senator Byrne said, women's sheds provide a space to women of all ages to come together regularly in a safe, comfortable, inclusive and collegiate environment.

Ireland has long been known for its strong sense of community. With one of the highest rates of volunteering in Europe, community groups play a vital role in people's lives, especially in rural areas. Beyond the social benefits, community involvement contributes to mental well-being, social connection and a sense of belonging. Women's sheds have emerged as an important part of the social inclusion landscape by providing a space where women of all ages and all backgrounds can meet regularly to share and learn new skills, work on meaningful projects, take part in activities, connect with their communities or, as Senator Byrne said, meet, have a chat and combat loneliness. Sheds are welcoming and supportive spaces, a place where women feel comfortable expressing their thoughts, sharing their experiences and, most importantly, connecting with each other. It is estimated there are now approximately 120 women's sheds across Ireland. The movement has been accelerating and gaining momentum in recent years. They have the potential to become even more powerful community hubs to promote lifelong learning, a strong support network and reduce isolation.

The programme for Government contains a commitment to continue to fund men's and women's sheds. As Senator Byrne said, I was delighted to announce last week, along with Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, funding for the Irish Men's Sheds Association, which it will distribute to its member men's sheds throughout the country. Due to the women's sheds being a much newer type of organisation which is still in the early stages of getting structures and procedures in place, I was not able on this occasion to provide funding to women's sheds in a similar way.

I am, however, committed to working with women's sheds to help them on this journey. Last week, a representative from my office met with members of the women's sheds national forum in Athlone to start this progress. I am absolutely committed to supporting women's sheds to ensure they can benefit from having a strong national representative body to advocate on their behalf in order that they have the correct structures and procedures in place to allow my Department to engage with them on funding opportunities. I can confirm to the Senator that officials from my Department along with colleagues from the Department of Health will be meeting with members of the national forum of women's sheds in the coming weeks to discuss how they might be supported to grow the organisation. Both Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, and I will be focused closely to ensure we have the development of a women's sheds network alongside its men's equivalent to get funding in place for the women's sheds.