Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for missing part of the presentation. I was speaking in the Seanad. It is great to have this group before the committee. This is an important day. We need to promote women in agriculture and also acknowledge the women who are in agriculture. My mother, who is 72 years of age, has worked all her life on the family farm. There is a legacy issue that needs to be addressed, in particular in respect of pensions. Women who worked at home and did not pay PRSI were not on the books and the only reason for that was poor accountancy. That is a significant legacy issue affecting many rural families and it must be addressed.

Role models such as Caroline Walsh are important. Women who are role models in agriculture need to be promoted. We need to step up to the mark and start talking about the real female leaders we have in agriculture. I attend agricultural meetings almost weekly at this stage and they are 90% male. Farming is a male-orientated and male-dominated space and it is going to be very hard to bridge the gap and get females into that space. Certain strong-minded, tough, focused do that well. My 11-year-old daughter who is very shy farms with me at home at weekends. I do not know if she would manage in that kind of a scenario. We need to start thinking about how to help get people like her involved in farming at that basic level.

The TAMS figures are crazy - off the Richter scale in many ways. We have a scheme in place for young farmers. We are discussing parity here and how we achieve it. We have an opportunity to have young farmers and female participation in agriculture treated in the same way. That would be a real driver in the industry to ensure we achieve the parity we need.

This is also a cultural issue. The current generation of farmers is predominately made up of males aged over 55 years. Changing the ethos will take an awful lot of work and thinking outside of the box. Campaigns, role models and leaders are really important. I see this with the veterinary practice we use at home. Two of its best vets are females. When they come into the yard my two little girls jump for joy because they see what can happen on the ground. These are the kinds of role models we need to see. People want to get involved when they see that kind of activity on the ground.

This is an important engagement but it cannot be our last one. We must have ongoing dialogue to go over issues in the agricultural industry that need to be addressed and ensure we have parity and female participation at a very high level. It is great to have our guests here.