Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North-West, Fianna Fail)
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360. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht to provide a breakdown of the funding announced for women’s sheds in Budget 2026; the category of groups that can apply for this funding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [66401/25]

Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North-West, Fianna Fail)
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361. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the funding available to a registered charity (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [66402/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 360 and 361 together.

I believe that the emergence of Women's Sheds has been a very positive development for communities across Ireland and I am fully committed to supporting Women's Sheds in the valuable work they do.

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

• The Local Enhancement Programme (LEP)
• The Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) 2024 - 2028
• The LEADER programme.

Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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362. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the number of Irish language summer colleges supported in 2024 and 2025, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [66504/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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In the interest of clarity, I should make the Deputy aware that the Irish language summer colleges' sector is essentially commercial in nature and that my Department does not fund the colleges directly. However, in order to foster language acquisition and enrichment opportunities in the Gaeltacht outside of the education system for learners of the language, my Department provides a nightly subsidy under the Irish Language Learners Scheme (Scéim na bhFoghlaimeoirí Gaeilge) payable to recognised Gaeltacht households who provide accommodation for learners attending a recognised Irish course in any of the Irish-language colleges operating under the scheme.

The table below details the number of colleges recognised under 'Scéim na bhFoghlaimeoirí Gaeilge' in 2024 and 2025. My Department provided recognition for a total of 259 courses in 2024 and 262 in 2025.

My Department's support of this sector as a whole under Scéim na bhFoghlaimeoirí Gaeilge is provided via an investment of over €6m annually. This investment goes towards subsiding accommodation costs as I have already outlined, but also towards providing scholarships to those attending DEIS second level schools from across Ireland and towards start-up grants for new accommodation providers to the sector. In addition, earlier this year, I announced a new once-off grant for accommodation providers to support the purchase of new beds and mattresses.

Not only does this annual state investment yield benefits in providing language learning and enrichment opportunities to thousands of learners annually, it also generates significant economic benefits within Gaeltacht regions.

Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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363. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if he will provide an update on funding allocations to the CLÁR and LEADER programmes in 2024 and 2025, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [66505/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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My Department's CLÁR programme provides funding under a number of different measures for small-scale infrastructural projects in designated rural areas as follows:

• Measure 1 supports the development of community facilities and amenities.
• Measure 2 provides support for the provision of vehicles to transport people with mobility issues or for cancer treatment, for community first responders, and for meals on wheels.
• Measure 3 aims to support communities on our offshore islands in line with the Department’s policy for the development of our inhabited offshore islands, ‘Our Living Islands’.