The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue has been accused of forcing women on farms to “jump through hoops” in order to access an increased rate of grant aid of 60% in the next Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
The minister recently announced that this grant aid – in the form of Targeted Agriculture Modernisation Schemes (TAMS) – would only be accessible to women aged 41-55 years’.
But it has also been confirmed that a formal agricultural qualification is also required.
This, according to the Women in Agriculture Stakeholders Group (WASG), shows that Minister McConalogue has missed the point on tackling inclusivity on farms.
“There are women over the proposed age limit that are working on their family farms and not getting official recognition for their work,” said Vanessa Kiely O’Connor, who is the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA) representative on the group.
“The purpose of our CAP submission is to highlight that every woman working on their home farm deserves the right to be recognised.”
Analysis of the most recent figures from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) show that just over 5,000 women officially farming fit into this 41-55-year age category.
But, according to the WASG, there are an additional 70,000 women working on farms in an unrecognised capacity.
“Since the minister’s announcement I’ve taken numerous calls from women over the age of 55 questioning if they will ever get their due recognition and whether the minister and the DAFM are truly committed to inclusivity at all,” she said.
The WASG has made the following recommendations to the DAFM:
- Women with at least a level six qualification in agriculture, or who have been head of a farm holding for at least three years should qualify for the 60% TAMS grant;
- The 55-year age limit must be raised to the incoming pension age of 67 – this is vital in the context of ensuring that older women who are active on family farms are given the support to become equal partners before reaching pension age.
- Those women joining a formal farm partnership, with a minimum level six qualification in agriculture who meet the eligible age criteria, can obtain a 60% TAMS grant within the partnership – similar to the current partnership model where a young trained farmer joins.
“The WASG is trying to assist the government to achieve our national and European commitment to gender balance within Irish agriculture to get the from just 12% of women farming to over 25% by the end of the next CAP. We will not be able to achieve this with barriers such as age being put forward by the DAFM.”
Her comments were echoed by the WASG chair, Hannah Quinn-Mulligan, who added that at worst, the measures announced were a cynical attempt to pay lip service to gender equality while making the scheme criteria so narrow that only a small minority would be able to avail of the it.
“For many women, this could be their only chance of ensuring they become equal partners on the farms they’ve spent the best part of their lives working on – hopefully the minister recognises the weight of his responsibility and does not let them down,” she said.