Men's Sheds
Seanad Éireann — 2026-09-22
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Dara Calleary (FF), Mayo

I thank the Cathaoirleach, Senator Daly, for his good wishes and place on the record of the Oireachtas my congratulations and thanks to the Mayo team for the lift they have given us all this year. For a Kerryman to do that is particularly special but even more special is to see Senator Goldsboro back looking hale and hearty. It is so good to have her back and it was great to see her coming in there.
I thank Senator Gallagher for raising the important issue regarding men's sheds and I will include women's sheds in my response. There is no threat to the ongoing funds to local sheds from the Department. We are supportive. The Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, and I, and our Department officials are working closely with men's and women's sheds. In fact, we are meeting the Irish Men's Shed Association, IMSA, this evening, which is a long-standing commitment. I am conscious of the role they play. The Senator touched on it and I know it in my locality. I have also engaged with a lot of sheds across the country.
Under the programme for Government, there is a commitment to continue to fund men's and women's sheds and to that end, in addition to the core funding provided by the Department to men's sheds through the IMSA, it is important to note that we provide a range of other supports to individual men's and women's sheds through the local enhancement programme, the social inclusion and community activation programme, SICAP, and LEADER.
Since 2018, under the local enhancement programme and its various supports, men's and women's sheds have been allocated over €2.7 million to assist with capital works, building upgrades and the purchase of equipment. We also provide funding directly to the IMSA under the scheme to support national organisations, SSNO. The current iteration of SSNO started a few weeks ago on 1 July last with funding of €297,766 made available to the IMSA over the next three years and six months. In addition, the funding that Senator Gallagher referred to has provided over €2.3 million in current funding directly to the IMSA for onward distribution to individual men's sheds. That figure includes about €700,000 which was paid out earlier this year between January and the end of April.
The IMSA and the Women's Sheds of Ireland have submitted funding proposals to the Department and we are currently reviewing them. However, the Senator spoke about the concerns of volunteers and about the extraordinary work of volunteers in men's sheds across the country. Some of my engagement with them has pointed to the frustration at the form filling and the level of bureaucracy that comes with the funding, as well as the delay in getting that funding directly to men's sheds. We are engaging with the IMSA as to how we can reduce the delay but also how we can control the funding, which is taxpayers' money, while also reducing the bureaucracy and the burden on volunteers. We received a new proposal from the IMSA late last night and the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, and I, will be working through those proposals.
In terms of 2027, as the Senator knows, all funding programmes are subject to the annual budgetary Estimates. They are costed to provide ongoing funding to these groups as part of the negotiation, and I will be in a position to give clarity on this after 6 October. However, I can assure the Senator of my commitment and that of the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer. I also want to put on the record my thanks to the officials in the Department who have worked exceptionally hard on this scheme over the last number of years through challenging times to get funding to sheds and to local sheds in particular. That commitment is real. That commitment from the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, and I is real and I look forward to my meeting with the IMSA this evening and to building a relationship with the new women's sheds association.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-09-22/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:49+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-22