Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I believe that the emergence of Men’s Sheds and Women's Sheds has been a very positive development for communities across Ireland and I am fully committed to supporting Men's Sheds and Women's Sheds in the valuable work they do.

My Department provides funding to Men's Sheds and Women’s (Sister) Sheds under various funding supports, including:

• The €7 million Local Enhancement Programme (LEP) 2025, the results of which I will be announcing shortly;
• The Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) 2024 - 2028 ; and
• The LEADER programme.

Men’s and Women's Sheds can apply individually for all of these schemes.

In addition to these schemes, my Department has channeled funding through the Irish Men’s Sheds Association (IMSA) to distribute directly to Men’s Sheds. I recently met with the IMSA to discuss their funding going forward. This matter is now under active consideration in my Department and I expect to make an announcement very shortly.

Multi-annual funding is also provided to the IMSA through the Scheme to Support National Organisations (SSNO). The IMSA has been allocated total funding of €283,684 over the three-and-a- half year period of the current scheme. A new iteration of the scheme will be available in 2026.

As Women’s Sheds do not currently operate under a national organisation, my Department is unable to provide funding similar to that provided to Men’s Sheds via the IMSA. Officials in my Department, along with colleagues in the Department of Health, are currently liaising with members of the National Forum of Women’s Sheds to arrange a meeting to discuss how they might be supported in setting up a national organisation.

I would encourage all Men’s and Women’s Sheds to check my Department’s website www.gov.ie/drcd , and 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.