Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 November 2023
605. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the capital funding that is available to men's sheds for repair and recycle activities; and her plans to invest in capacity building and advertising of such services. [50775/23]
View answerMy Department provides a range of supports which are available to Men's Sheds, depending on the works being completed.
I was delighted to announce on 20th November 2023, a new €1 million Fund to assist Men’s Sheds across the country. Under the initiative, grants of up to €3,000 will be provided to support Men’s Sheds with their running costs such as their heating, electricity, utility and insurance bills.
This funding builds on the €800,000 I announced last November, 2022, to support Men’s Sheds. The individual grants of up to €3,000 will be distributed to the Men’s Sheds via its representative body, the Irish Men’s Sheds Association (IMSA), through an application process which includes qualifying criteria for the fund.
Separately, the Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) has provided supports to 281 Men’s Sheds since 2018, with small grants totalling over €198,000 awarded to 119 Men’s Sheds. This support is still available through 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 operate until 30 June 2025. The Irish Men’s Sheds Association has been allocated total funding of €243,158 over the three year period of the scheme.
And finally, Men's Sheds were eligible to apply for funding under the Community Support Fund (CSF) that was announced last November under the Community Enhancement Programme (CEP). The €10 million CSF was set up to help small community groups with their energy/running costs but also to provide funding for small capital works projects. The CSF is now closed and details of successful Men’s Sheds is available at www.gov.ie/DRCD. Since 2018, over €2.2 million in funding was allocated to Men’s Sheds under the CEP.
I encourage all groups 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.
