Confirmation that the age limit for the 60% Targeted Agriculture Modernisation Schemes (TAMS) grant for women has been raised to 66 years of age has been welcomed by the Women in Agriculture Stakeholders Group (WASG). 

The initial age limit proposed by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, of between 40 and 55 years of age was heavily criticised by the WASG, who said that it left out more women than it supported.  

“I know this will be warmly welcomed by the many women who contacted the WASG after the previous announcement limiting applications up to the age of 55 was made,” Vanessa Kiely O’Connor, the ICMSA representative of the group said. 

The 60% TAMS for women will come into effect in 2023 and is one of a number of measures submitted as part of Ireland’s CAP Strategic Plan to Brussels.

Others measures include the option of female-only Knowledge Transfer groups and European Innovation Partnerships (EIP) with a focus on improving inclusivity.

The WASG, made up of representatives from all the leading farming organisations, said it remains committed to increasing the number of women farming officially from 13 to 30% by 2027.  

“These measures are just the first step in ensuring that the work of women is officially recognised on farms,” chair of the group Hannah Quinn-Mulligan said.  

"Just 3.8% of farms are in joint male/female partnerships and we want to see a huge increase in the number of those types of partnerships. We hope that farmers will see the benefit of having a woman in an official farm partnership and recognise that the 60% TAMS grant women bring to the table will strengthen family farms," she said.