International Women's Day: Statements Seanad Éireann — 2026-03-04 ============================================================ Eileen Lynch (FG), Agricultural Panel Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit as a bheith anseo inniu chun ráitis faoi Lá Idirnáisiúnta na mBan a phlé. Tá sé an-tábhachtach go bhfuil comhrá faoi. I would like to highlight the importance of International Women's Day, which is still incredibly necessary and relevant. Statistics on gender-based violence, the employment gap and political representation all show how much we really have to do to strive for equality. The list just goes on and on. While progress is being made, we need to be very mindful of areas where progress is incredibly slow. Today, I want to focus on something positive, which is women in agriculture. This year is the United Nations International Year of the Woman Farmer, which is great recognition that is both timely and overdue. Women have always been central to farming, food production and rural life, particularly in Ireland, but for many years their contribution was completely undervalued and unrecorded. For generations, women have farmed the land, raised families and looked after elderly relatives and they continue to do so, usually without formal recognition. I am very proud to come from a family of strong farming women. My mam started out as an An Chomhairle Oiliúna Talmhaíochta, ACOT, farm adviser and for many years now she has run the family farm at home, first with my dad and then later with my brother. My nanny raised 11 children while also pretty much running the farm, although that might be disputed by certain uncles. Women like them have shaped the Irish rural landscape and Irish agriculture and it is important that we pay tribute to them. While progress is being made and we are seeing a lot more prominent female figures in agriculture, we are still nowhere near equality. We still have a way lower number of female herd owners and farm owners and it is very difficult to access finance and land. We really need to strive to address these inequalities because as well as being the right thing to do, it makes strategic sense. When we look at generational renewal and at food and farm security, we need women. It has been shown that where women are involved and supported, farms are more resilient, environmental practices are stronger, community engagement increases and generational renewal is more likely. This is incredibly important in an Irish context when we face challenges in farm viability, ageing farmer demographics and a myriad of other issues. On International Women's Day and in the International Year of the Woman Farmer, we need action. Supporting women in farming is not just about gender equality. It is about the resilience of food, strengthening our communities and the sustainability of Irish agriculture for future generations. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-03-04/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:43+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-03-04