Malcolm Noonan (Green Party)
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Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire.

Linda Nelson Murray (Fine Gael)
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I appreciate that the Minister, Deputy Calleary, has come here this morning. While I was running in the convention, I used a quote about women to sum up myself and my late mam, who loved a strong cup of tea: a woman like me is like a tea bag; you can't tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water. There are many women in County Meath who are strong women and who are fighting for a home for their groups. Those are the Trim women's shed, the Navan women's shed and the Meath cancer support group. Trim women's shed is a welcome space where women can connect, learn new skills and support one another through workshops, creative classes and social events. However, the absence of a consistent venue has become a major challenge to its continued growth and sustainability.This group has 450 members and would benefit from having somewhere it can call home for a number of reasons, including stability, continuity, ownership, pride, development and skill building. The group could plan activities and workshops for its huge member base without worrying about venue availability. Caroline Smith, who is the group's chair, has said that it wants to get women out and into the community, to provide a safe support space for women and to act as a non-judgmental group where women can gather, support each other and learn new skills. All women above the age of 18 are welcome to join and there is no cut-off age. A lot of women have said that the shed has saved them by bringing them out of isolation.

The women's shed movement has expanded rapidly across Ireland in recent years, as the Minister will be aware, inspired by the well-established men's shed model. Nonetheless, it is fairly safe to say that women's sheds are more shedless than men's sheds. Most women's sheds rent shared spaces, which means they must pack away their equipment after each session. Men's sheds, on the other hand, are often granted permanent spaces.

Today, there are 120 women's sheds across Ireland. Sheila K. Martin from Killarney women's shed made a super point when she said that communities function best when they feel connected. People used to use pubs for that but many of them have shut down. Women's sheds can fill that gap by providing a dedicated space where women can share experiences, build friendships and feel part of something bigger. These groups offer essential social, emotional and educational supports. All I have said about the Trim women's shed I could say equally about the Navan women's shed, which is in the same predicament. I urge the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht to seek to ensure that women's sheds are equally looked after this year.

Another group that I would like to bring to the Minister's attention is the Meath Cancer Support Group. Rachel Mullen from Kildalkey never imagined that she would find herself in a life-changing battle, but that was exactly what happened when she found she had breast cancer. She did not expect to find that there was no support group local to her where she could cry, vent, rage, smile and speak to people going through the same thing. To do this, she would have had to travel to Dublin, Westmeath or Louth. We must bear in mind that Meath has a population of 240,000 people, which means there are potentially 1,600 people diagnosed every year, each of whom has various family members. This incredible lady set up the Meath Cancer Support Group with the wonderful support of Trim Family Resource Centre. Ms Mullen has some space but there are now more than 30 people looking to come to the group's meetings and the room can only hold 30 people. This group is a lifeline for individuals and families that have been affected by cancer. How can a group that provides such support continue to progress its work without a base? The group provides help through counselling, peer support, information sessions and practical assistance. It offers comfort and hope to people navigating one of life's toughest challenges.

I have mentioned three groups. I am sure there are many more in similar circumstances. I am focusing on these three groups to ascertain the Government's plans to provide homes for groups that go out of their way to support women, to support people, to support families and to support communities in County Meath.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Senator Nelson Murray for raising this issue. Given that so many people in County Meath have roots in County Mayo, it is inevitable that there would be strong women there. It is important that the Senator has raised this matter today. The importance of high-quality accessible spaces for community groups is beyond doubt. As the Senator said, we have all witnessed the massive contribution of the men's shed movement, and now the women’s shed movement. Is there any family out there that has not needed or will not need the assistance at some stage of the cancer support groups that do such amazing work across the country?

Since I became Minister for community development earlier this year, I have prioritised investment in community infrastructure and in services to support our communities. As part of budget 2026, I am delighted to announce increased funding for the programmes that are delivering on this priority. This includes an increase in the annual budget for the community centre investment fund, by €3 million to €20 million. This fund was introduced to provide high-quality accessible community spaces that are available to all groups in all communities, both in rural and in urban areas. The fund has provided €110 million since 2022 for the enhancement and refurbishment of existing community centres and the construction of new centres. This includes funding of up to €100,000 each that I announced for 369 community centres earlier this year. In the Senator's county, funding of €1.9 million has been provided for a new community centre in Kilcloon, one of 12 centres receiving funding under the fund. Over €4.8 million has been provided to County Meath through the community centre investment fund in less than four years. In addition, my Department has allocated over €1.1 million to Meath under the CLÁR programme, which is also focused on community facilities and community transport services in the more rural parts of the county.

I assure Senator Nelson Murray that I am fully committed to delivering further rounds of funding under the community centre investment fund and the CLÁR programme so that there will be many opportunities for groups such as those she has spoken about. I recommend that the Senator should speak to her colleague, Senator Mark Duffy, who has led on the creation of a community space in an old school in Ballina. That sounds like something that might work for the combined work that the Senator is envisaging here and I recommend that the Senator have a look at that model.

In relation to men's sheds and women's sheds, and I welcome my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, to the Chamber, we are supporting men's sheds and women's sheds through the Local Enhancement Programme, SICAP and the LEADER programme. The funding under these schemes is also available to cancer support groups.

I encourage groups that need to invest in new or improved community spaces to engage with their local authority and local development company to identify what options may be available. I am more than happy to ask my officials to brief the Senator in relation to that.

My Department has channelled funding through the Irish Men's Sheds Association to distribute directly to men's sheds. The Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, and I were pleased to announce a financial package with the association for this year which will enable it to distribute up to €1 million in supports to men's sheds across the country. We are awaiting the finalisation of that package with it. We are committed to providing any support we can for the development of a national governing body for women's sheds to ensure that individual women’s sheds can benefit from having a strong national representative body to advocate on their behalf. My officials have been engaging with representatives from women’s sheds and the Department of Health with a view to delivering on this objective. Once this is done, we are more than happy to discuss centralised funding.

I commend the work of all the groups the Senator referred. I thank all of the extraordinary volunteers who lead them. Without the volunteers in the groups the Senator has referred to, our country and the Senator's county would be a much poorer place.

Linda Nelson Murray (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister. Of all the Ministries, Deputy Calleary has a wonderful Ministry. It is a great Department because the Minister can do so much good with it. When I looked at all the different sources of community centre funding that increased in the budget, I was delighted to see that nearly all of them went up by €1 million, €2 million or €3 million. I welcome that. It is fantastic news.

I recognise the money that has come into County Meath. I worked with the Clady Hall project in Dunderry, County Meath, which got great money from the Department. People worked locally to raise funds to create an amazing community space in a building that had been closed - it was more or less derelict - but has now been partly reopened. I hope to welcome the Minister there at some stage when the job is totally finished. It is a fabulous space that will benefit three communities - Robinstown, Dunderry and a third one I cannot think of.

Do we have any idea when the national governing body for the women's sheds will be set up?

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Senator Nelson Murray. I endorse everything she has said.

Fundraising is important. It is very hard work, but it makes an important contribution, financially and otherwise. If a community buys into a project through fundraising, it will succeed. Speaking of fundraising, it would be wrong of me not to wish our colleague, Senator Costello, every success as she takes to the stage next weekend in her lip-sync fundraiser. I wish the Senator good luck with that.

We are working on the structure for the national women's sheds alongside the Minister of State, Deputy Murnane O'Connor, in the Department of Health. Our officials have been in touch with them. They are certainly making progress. I do not want to put a deadline on it so that we can get it working well together.

I will give the Senator a sense of some of the allocations in Meath that we have been able to do. Under the community centre investment fund, we allocated €20,000 to the Trim Family Resource Centre to fund the replacement of windows, bathrooms, flooring and insulation. We have also allocated €300,000 in Athboy and €90,000 for halls in Moynalty and Longwood. As the Senator will be aware, under the rural regeneration and development fund, we have invested almost €4.5 million in Trim to redevelop the existing library and the adjacent chapel.

I encourage the Senator to look at existing buildings and spaces within her community that we might consider partnering in. As I said, Senator Duffy has led on the redevelopment of an existing old school which has now become a centre for seven or eight different community organisations. It is definitely a model worth looking at.

Malcolm Noonan (Green Party)
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I thank the Minister. It is always great to have a senior Minister in with us. We appreciate it.