Ms Hannah Quinn-Mulligan:

A Chathaoirligh agus a dhaoine uaisle, ar dtús báire tá mé féin agus an grúpa fíorbhuíoch daoibh go léir ó thaobh an cuireadh a thug sibh dúinn.

We are grateful to be here. Many of the members might already know me as an agricultural journalist, but I also have the privilege to farm with my grandmother in County Limerick. Like many members of the committee, I had a farm childhood that was both blessed with warm summer days helping to bring in hay bales and cursed with the dubious honour of standing in gaps in the biting cold of winter. Farming is in my blood, as it is for many of the colleagues here with me. Growing up, all I wanted to be was a farmer, like my grandmother. Yet, the reality of the day is that I am one of fewer than 500 young women throughout Ireland of my generation who are under 35 years of age, who grew up to be farmers and who are in receipt of farm payments. An even more frightening statistic is that there are more women over the age of 80 who the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine considers to be actively farming than there are women under the age of 40 who are considered to be actively farming. That same figure is not shared by our male counterparts in farming. This highlights the impact of a long-held tradition where farms are passed from generation to generation by way of the eldest son.

The family farm is sacred to rural Ireland. However, just as no man is an island, the reality is that hardly any farm operates without the input of both partners. For example, when my great-grandfather had to emigrate to England to work on the railroads to support his family, it was my great-grandmother who milked the cows every morning and evening and got their nine children off to school. Women have always shared the workload on Irish farms, yet the official recognition of that work has never happened. Central Statistics Office, CSO, figures show that 70,000 women are getting up every single day to help out on farms in some capacity, yet roughly just 16,000 women are in receipt of payments. Just 3.8% of all farms in Ireland are held in joint male-female names. The figures are not improving organically, and the primary aim of the Women in Agriculture Stakeholders Group, WASG, is to push the number of women farming in their own name and in partnerships to 25% by 2030 through the mechanics of the Common Agricultural Policy, CAP.

The group is made up of representatives from the IFA, the ICMSA, the ICSA, Macra na Feirme, the Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association, INHFA, the Irish Organic Association, IOA, West Women in Farming, and South East Women in Farming. It is completely voluntary. Since coming together just over a month ago, we have made our first CAP submission and have met with senior officials in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to discuss it. We also have a social media presence and a mailing list, and we have the support of women of all ages.

I know the submission has been circulated to committee members already, so I will not bore them overly with the points. In it, we have the target to reach 25% of female farmers by 2030, through partnerships and single owners. We are saying there should be a 60% targeted agriculture modernisation scheme, TAMS, grant for women over 40, because the figures we received show that less than 4% of TAMS money went to women. There should be a female-only knowledge transfer, KT scheme and a top-up scheme for KT groups that have at least three female members. We would also like a partnership tax credit to work in line with a succession tax credit similar to that, whereby a woman could enter into a formal partnership with a male farmer - it could be a daughter, daughter-in-law, or wife - over a five-year period and the farmer would receive €5,000 a year tax credit, but the farm would have to be divided 50:50 between the farmer and the woman coming onto the farm. Another point we would like to touch on is that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine must commit to plan and fund a national women in agriculture dialogue as set out in Food Vision 2030.

We welcome any questions committee members might have on our submission. We thank members again for having us here.