Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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45. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the position regarding the work he is undertaking to support the creation of a national body of women’s sheds, similar to what is in place for men’s sheds; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [66816/25]

Jerry Buttimer (Cork South-Central, Fine Gael)
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I am committed to providing any support I can for the development of a national governing body for Women’s Sheds to ensure that individual Women’s Sheds can benefit from having a strong national representative body to advocate on their behalf. I am pleased that my colleague, Minister Jennifer Murnane O'Connor, shares my view.

A number of meetings have taken place between representatives of women's sheds and officials from my department and from the Department of Health.

Both Departments have jointly funded the provision of a facilitator to assist the representatives of the women’s sheds in their discussions around the formation of a national body. The facilitator is also providing advice to the representatives from the women’s sheds in the context of appropriate governance structures. Several meetings have taken place as part of the work plan, both online and in person, and further meetings will be scheduled in the coming weeks.

My officials, along with their counterparts in the Department of Health, hold regular update meetings with the facilitator to discuss the progress of the work plan, the most recent of which took place last week.

The women’s shed representatives, and the facilitator are working together to outline a plan that determines what the next steps are towards the development of a national governing body. These meetings are ongoing.

A date for the next meeting with department officials has not been confirmed, however both departments will continue to keep in touch with the process and further meetings will be scheduled as required.