Dr. Maura Farrell:

I thank Deputy Nolan very much for her good wishes regarding our FLIARA project. Of course, the overshadowing of women in agriculture the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach mentioned has been there for many years. However, I believe we are moving forward. We have made up a lot of ground as regards women being part of the CAP strategic plan. It is part of what the Commission is driving forward at the moment. We have got great hearings from the Commission on the work we are doing. Some of the proposals included in the CAP strategic plan are quite technical. There is a strong possibility that areas including mentorship and networking may be included in the CAP strategic plan the next time around. What is most important is that we get these measures evaluated. In evaluating, we see whether they have worked. We should not turn around and throw out the same number and type of measures in the next CAP without having had them evaluated to see whether they have had an impact on the ground as regards women in those spaces.

There is something else that becomes important for us. For many years, we have said that creating or devising policy in the absence of clear research or data can be very dangerous. We need to make sure there is solid data in respect of what is happening on the ground and in the CAP strategic plans in respect of women, where women are feeding in, where they are strongest, where they are weakest and where we need to keep going with this. Having that data makes our job, as researchers in a university, easier. Once we have that data, we can come forward. Researching those ideas, the barriers and what works becomes very important. We must make sure that we do not roll out the same measures without proper evaluation. That is very important.

We commend the Department of agriculture for getting this in there. Only two countries in Europe have included measures in the CAP strategic plan in respect of gender and women. We commend the Department for doing that. We must also make sure that it maintains that momentum into the future and does not just see this as something that needs to be rolled out because of a directive from the Commission. It must be something that stays on the agenda and that we bring from lower education, through secondary education and into third level education. Women must be seen not just as part of farming, but as part of the wider agricultural community. There is a wider agricultural jobs agenda that women can also get involved in. It is very important that the Department be allowed to drive that with research and with changes in policy.