Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 May 2024
667. Deputy Pauline Tully asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the funding that has been allocated to men’s and women's sheds, respectively, in each of the past three years, in tabular form. [22731/24]
View answerMy Department provides a range of supports which are available to Men's and Women’s Sheds. The table below outlines the specific funding allocated to both Men's and Women's sheds over the last three years. However, both groups of sheds access funding from a variety of other schemes, the details of which can be found below.
Since 2018, under the Community Enhancement Programme (CEP), over 1,300 Men’s Shed projects have received funding of over €2.2 million, and almost 120 Women’s Shed projects received almost €145,000 in funding.
I was delighted to launch the Local Enhancement Programme (LEP) in December 2023. This replaced my Department’s Community Enhancement Programme, with capital funding of €6 million to assist thousands of community groups across the country. Both Men's and Women’s Sheds were also eligible to apply for funding under the LEP. The overall €6 million LEP also includes a special ring-fenced capital fund of €1 million to provide support for Women’s Groups (i.e., Sheds, Groups, Clubs, Networks, etc.), and builds on the €100,000 ring-fenced for Women’s Sheds under the 2022 Community Support Fund.
The Local Enhancement Programme is administered on behalf of my Department locally by Local Community Development Committees (LCDCs) across the country, with support from their Local Authority.
The Local Enhancement Programme is now closed to applicants and Department officials are currently assessing details of the successful applicants. Details of successful projects will be published on the Department’s website www.gov.ie/drcd shortly.
Separately, the Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) also provides supports to Men's and Women’s Sheds, for example in facilitating training courses and holding focus groups. To date, 283 Men’s sheds received €223,027 and 67 Women’s sheds received €14,846 in Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) supports. This support is still is 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 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.
In November 2023, I was delighted to announce funding of €1 million to support Men’s Sheds throughout the country. The initiative will see grants of up to €3,000 provided to over 400 Men’s Sheds nationwide to assist them with running costs such as electricity or insurance bills. The individual grants will be distributed to the Men’s Sheds via IMSA. Sheds should contact the IMSA for further details.
I would encourage all Men's and Women's Sheds to regularly engage with their Local Community Development Committee (LCDC), Local Development Company (LDC) and Public Participation Network (PPN) in order to ensure they are informed of a range of funding opportunities as they arise.
Men's and Women's Sheds Allocated Funding 2021-2024
|
Year |
Group |
Funding Allocated |
|
2022 |
Women's Sheds |
€100,000 |
|
2022 |
Men's Sheds |
€800,000 |
|
2023 |
Men's Sheds |
€1,000,000 |
|
2024 |
Women's Sheds |
€1,000,000 |
|
€2,900,000 |
