John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

2668.To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the men's sheds and women’s sheds funded in Dublin south-west in the past three years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31622/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

My Department provides a range of supports which are available to Men's and Women’s Sheds.

Since 2018, under the Community Enhancement Programme (CEP), over 1,300 Men’s Shed projects have received funding of over €2.3 million, and over 200 Women’s Shed projects received over €310,000 in funding.

I was delighted to launch the Local Enhancement Programme (LEP) in December 2023. This replaced my Department’s Community Enhancement Programme, with capital funding of €6 million to assist thousands of community groups across the country. Both Men's and Women’s Sheds were also eligible to apply for funding under the LEP. The overall €6 million LEP also includes a special ring-fenced capital fund of €1 million to provide support for Women’s Groups (i.e., Sheds, Groups, Clubs, Networks etc...), and builds on the €100,000 ring-fenced for Women’s Sheds under the 2022 Community Support Fund. The 2022 Community Support Fund included a current allocation which could have been used for rent, insurance and so on. Both Men's and Women's Shed's were eligible to apply under the CSF.

The Local Enhancement Programme is administered on behalf of my Department locally by Local Community Development Committees (LCDCs) across the country, with support from their Local Authority.

The Local Enhancement Programme is now closed to applicants and details of successful projects under the CEP/LEP over the past three years, for each individual Local Community Development Company can be viewed on my Departments website. Table 1 and Table 2 show the funding provided to Women's and Men's Sheds in the South-West Dublin region.

Separately, the Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) also provides supports to Men's and Women’s Sheds, for example in facilitating training courses and holding focus groups. Under SICAP 2018 to 2023, 283 Men’s sheds received supports, with grants awarded totalling €223,027 and 67 Women’s sheds received supports, with grants awarded totalling €14,846. Since the commencement of SICAP 2024 – 2028, 112 Men’s Sheds have received supports, with 10 receiving grants totalling €9,923, and 42 Women’s sheds have received supports, with 2 receiving grants of €680 to date in 2024.

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 (IMSA) has been allocated total funding of €243,158 over the three-year period of the scheme.

In November 2023, I was delighted to announce funding of €1 million to support Men’s Sheds throughout the country. The initiative will see grants of up to €3,000 provided to over 400 Men’s Sheds nationwide to assist them with running costs such as electricity or insurance bills. The individual grants will be distributed to the Men’s Sheds via IMSA. Sheds should contact the IMSA for further details.

I would encourage all Men's and Women's Sheds to regularly engage with their Local Community Development Committee (LCDC), Local Development Company (LDC) and Public Participation Network (PPN) in order to ensure they are informed of a range of funding opportunities as they arise.

Women's Sheds Funding

South Dublin County Council

Women's Sheds Funding

Fingal County Council

Men's Sheds Funding

Fingal County Council