David Stanton
Question:6. Deputy David Stanton asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the way her Department is supporting men’s sheds and sister sheds; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9020/23]
View answerThursday, 23 February 2023
Questions (6)
Oral answers (6 contributions)
The Minister is always welcome in Cork, and I for one appreciate the work she is doing and the money she has been making available to communities there, even if others do not.
How is the Minister supporting men's sheds, women's sheds and sister sheds, which are a positive development? The work they are doing is amazing and the impact they are having is fantastic. I am aware the Minister supports the sheds and is a great advocate and fan of them. Will she inform the House of the ways she is supporting them and the plans she has for their future?
Deputy Stanton has discussed men's and women's sheds with me on many occasions. He is a strong advocate for the great work they do.
My Department provides a range of supports which is available to men's and women's sheds. Since 2018, under the community enhancement programme, more than 1,200 men's sheds projects have received funding of over €2 million and 60 women's sheds projects received almost €72,500 in funding. To date, 110 men's sheds have received €174,766 and five women's sheds have received €6,574 in social inclusion and community activation programme supports, SICAP. This support is still is available from SICAP.
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. Last November, I was delighted to announce funding of €800,000 to the IMSA to support men's sheds throughout the country. The initiative will see grants of up to €2,000 provided to over 400 men's sheds nationwide to assist them with running costs such as electricity or insurance bills. This funding complements the €100,000 ring-fenced funding I announced last October to support the growing network of women's sheds.
Separately, men's and women's sheds can also apply for funding under the community support fund, CSF, which I launched last November. This €10 million fund was set up to help small community groups with their energy or running costs but will also provide funding for small capital works projects.
I thank the Minister sincerely for the work she is doing. I also compliment the Irish Men's Sheds Association, its chief executive and others on the work they are doing, their professionalism and the way they go about their business. In a very short time, it has grown into a large organisation that impacts on many thousands of men, and now women, across the country. It is a really good news story, which perhaps some of the people in the fourth estate might pick up on, promote and acknowledge. It really is very impressive.
The €800,000 the Minister made available this year is most welcome and has made a huge difference. Will this be an annual fund to which the Minister can commit? The overhead costs - insurance, electricity and so on - are having an impact and this fund has been a major help. The men's and women's sheds are all very grateful to the Minister and her Department for that.
As the Deputy is aware, I always have to negotiate funding commitments with the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform at budget time. The work the men's sheds are doing is invaluable in terms of the network and social support provided. If someone is having a bad day, the best place he can go is up to the men's shed. He will get a good cup of tea and will hear what is happening in the country. The sheds really do people good and I am a big supporter of them. The role they have developed has become vital in communities. Last year, I was delighted to be able to provide funding of €800,000 to the national Irish Men's Sheds Association. There are roughly 400 men's sheds so each one will receive up to €2,000. We did not complicate the matter by having fancy formulas. We just divided up the funding and left it with the IMSA to get it out to the men's sheds. I compliment the association on its work.
The men's sheds are ahead of everybody else on this. Last year, I met representatives of various women's groups to encourage them to come together to form a similar organisation. I put €100,000 aside and told them to make applications for this funding to help them set up a similar type of organisation. I said I was sure the men's sheds would give them the benefit of their experience. That is out there at the minute.
Again, I join the Minister in acknowledging the work the men's sheds are doing for their members and also for their local communities. They often get involved in local projects and help other organisations and community groups by offering the woodworking and other skills their members have. This is having a big impact. We have an impressive men's sheds group in my home town of Midleton and there is also one in Glounthaune which is involved in Harper's Island wildlife sanctuary and so on. They are really impressive.
One of the challenges men's sheds can experience is in acquiring capital funding to build and provide a shed. The Minister indicated she is making a small amount of capital funding available. Has she considered a fund that could be used by aspiring men's sheds if they want to buy a shed or some property in which to locate a shed? The amount needed can be substantial and this can be a stumbling block, especially in areas which may not have access to the economic supports that are available in some other areas.
If sheds are looking for premises, I always encourage them to work with their local authorities. Under the town and village renewal scheme, especially under the building acquisition measure, local authorities have been able to buy buildings in towns and villages, particularly former bank buildings. These buildings usually have a fine big space out the back and there is no reason they cannot be used for multiple purposes. As I said, each shed has its own individual needs. Many of them are renting premises. I have a case in my constituency where a men's shed is desperately looking for premises. I am encouraging it to engage with the local authority because there are a number of different funding streams available.
On the community support fund, I have some opening and closing dates if people want to apply to the fund. The Cork County Council community support fund opened on 3 February and it will close on 13 March. I advise any of these organisations to apply for funding from that source. They can contact Cork County Council at communitydevelopmentunit@corkcoco.ie. I want to see these applications coming in, and hopefully they will be completed by the end of March. Each county has an allocation and it is up to them to get the money out. The message I want to send out to the women's sheds, or whatever name they might have, is that if women are thinking of forming such a group, they should contact the local authority because there is a few bob available to support them. I would like to see a similar organisation for women across the country in due course.
Questions Nos. 7 to 9, inclusive, taken with Written Answers.