Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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884. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development when the CLÁR measure 1 funding for community facilities and amenities will be announced. [33460/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The CLÁR Programme provides funding for small-scale projects in designated rural areas that have experienced significant levels of de-population over a defined period. Since the Programme was relaunched in 2016, it has supported a wide range of measures.

The CLÁR 2022 Programme awarded a record €12.2 million with 292 projects supported.

I launched the 2023 Programme in March this year and the measures to be funded are:

• Developing Community Facilities and Amenities (Measure 1)
• Mobility, Cancer Care and Community First Responders Transport (Measure 2)
• ‘Our Islands’ (Measure 3)

Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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885. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development if support will be provided to an organisation (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33514/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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My Department provides a range of supports which are available to Men's Sheds, depending on the works being completed.

Last November, I was delighted to announce funding of €800,000 to support Men’s Sheds throughout the country with running costs, such as electricity and insurance bills. The individual grants were distributed to the Men’s Sheds via its representative body, the Irish Men’s Sheds Association (IMSA).

Separately, the Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) has provided supports to 275 Men’s Sheds since 2018, with small grants totalling over €191,000 awarded to 117 Men’s Sheds. This support is still available through 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 operate until 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 were eligible to apply for funding under the Community Support Fund (CSF) that was announced last November under the Community Enhancement Programme (CEP). The €10 million CSF was set up to help small community groups with their energy/running costs but also to provide funding for small capital works projects. The CSF is now closed and details of successful Men’s Sheds is available at www.gov.ie/DRCD. Since 2018, over €2 million in funding was allocated to Men’s Sheds under the CEP.

While there is likely to be a new iteration of the CEP in late 2023, the exact scope is yet to be determined. Groups are encouraged to engage with their Local Community Development Committees (LCDCs), Local Development Companies and Public Participation Networks (PPN) to ensure they are aware of funding opportunities as they become available.