Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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500. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the reason that the €800,000 funding support for men’s sheds was not announced earlier in 2022; the reason that it was only open for applications for a short number of weeks; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5585/23]

Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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501. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the reason that the period of qualified utility and operating expenses differs between the community support fund and the funding supports allocated to support Irish men’s sheds, both announced in November 2022, given that they are similar grants in nature; if any consideration was given to the IMSA allocation having the same expenses timeframe of April 2022 to March 2023, given that this would have alleviated issues that have arisen whereby a number of sheds have been left ineligible for the full allocation following funding allocations from other streams in 2022; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5586/23]

Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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502. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the further efforts that are to be made on a Government level to assist in the sustainability of stand-alone men’s sheds in Ireland; if the Government has consulted with IMSA in this regard, especially following issues that arose in relation to the €800,000 grant that was allocated late last year by her Department; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5587/23]

Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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503. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the reason the €800,000 funding support for men’s sheds did not allow further discretion for sheds in greater need of financial assistance, sheds that may have forgone items deemed as eligible expenditure due to their uncertain financial futures in 2022, sheds that have received support from their local communities through non-monetary means, ensuring their survival but leaving the shed ineligible for this financial support as they have not incurred the costs listed as eligible expenditure; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5588/23]

Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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504. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the reason that the €800,000 funding support for men’s sheds cannot be used for part payments on the total cost of capital expenditure; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5589/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 500 to 504, inclusive, together.

Last November, I was delighted to announce funding of €800,000 to support Men’s Sheds throughout the country.The initiative will see grants of up to €2,000 provided to over 400 registered Men’s Sheds nationwide, to assist them with running costs such as electricity or insurance bills.

The individual grants will be distributed to the over 400 Men’s Sheds via its representative body, the Irish Men’s Sheds Association (IMSA). Sheds should contact the IMSA for further details and with queries around eligibility.

Separately, The Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) has provided supports to over 200 Men’s Sheds since 2018, with small grants totalling over €98,000 awarded to 116 Men’s Sheds. This support is still is available from SICAP.

My Department also funded the Irish Men’s Sheds Association under the COVID-19 Stability Funding in 2020. They distributed €70,424 equally among their member sheds to support the organisations to continue to deliver services despite the challenges brought by COVID-19.

The Scheme to Support National Organisations (SSNO) provides multi-annual funding towards core costs of national, community and voluntary organisations. The current iteration commenced on 1 July 2022 and will cease on 30 June 2025. The Irish Men’s Sheds Association has been allocated total funding of €243,158 over the three year period of the scheme.

And finally, Men's Sheds can also apply for funding to the Community Support Fund (CSF) that was announced last November under the Community Enhancement Programme (CEP). Since 2018, over 1,200 Men’s Sheds have received funding of over €2 million under the CEP.

The €10m Community Support Fund was set up to help small community groups with their energy/running costs but will also provide funding for small capital works projects. Costs incurred in the period 1 April 2022 – 31 March 2023 are eligible under the fund.

The CSF is being administered by Local Community Development Committees (LCDCs) on behalf of my Department and interested Men’s Sheds should contact their local LCDC directly for further information.