Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

That is something we are looking at. We are trying to encourage partnerships. It is something we want to make real progress on. If the Deputy has any advice, our ears and our minds are very much open with regard to what steps we can take. The Women in Agriculture conference dialogue, which was led out by the former Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mary Coughlan, earlier this year, had the objective of bringing women from all aspects of farming together to look at these ideas. The Minister of State, Senator Hackett, contributed very strongly to it and has a very strong interest in this also. Much progress has happened in the agrifood sector generally. It is much slower within the farmgate and that is something we want to see changed. This comes from a cultural backdrop where it was not culturally encouraged in the same way for a young woman to take up agriculture and to become a farmer as it was for a young man. We are seeing that changing. If one goes to a mart now, and in farmyards across the country, one sees this change. There is a great appetite from both genders to become farmers. We have to keep encouraging that to ensure we see that followed through with regard to women taking their rightful place as farm holders also.

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