International Year of the Woman Farmer: Motion
Seanad Éireann — 2026-05-20
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Paraic Brady (FG), Agricultural Panel

I welcome the Minister to the House. My grandmother was of the era when she was never on the herd number, but she was always the woman who organised what had to be done on the farm. That era of women must not be forgotten. We have seen a change. We in Ireland are the leaders when it comes to supporting women in farming and agriculture. I will go through a couple of statistics. Men and women are equal in most developed countries. The United Nations has 17 sustainable development goals and gender is featured in all 17. There can be no sustainable development without gender equality. With regard to education, 15 million girls will never get a chance to read or write. A total of 33 million women and girls live on less than $1.90 a day compared to 4.4 million men. Women are 14 times more likely to die during a disaster. This tells us where Ireland is globally. The world itself has not recognised the value of women in agriculture or in the workforce. Investment and policy programmes that work for girls and women have to be key for the European Union. Women make up 41% of the global agricultural workforce, yet too often they have no access to finance, technology or training.
It would be remiss of me not to congratulate the Minister on appointing Carina Roseingrave as ambassador for Ireland this year. She runs a mixed farm in County Clare where she milks cows. She was in childcare and, unfortunately, her business was not sustainable, so she has gone into farming full time. She runs a pedigree herd of Charolais and Limousin cattle. She runs a dairy herd and a suckler herd. To say she is a real ambassador for women in agriculture in this country is an understatement. When we speak to her, she has such a passion for food production and for women in agriculture. Her goal is to educate the younger kids of Ireland, especially younger girls, so that they see there is a viable living to be had in taking over the family farm and making a living out of it. She should be complimented because what she has done in County Clare is really special.
She commented to me when I spoke to her earlier that she would like to see funding put in place for training to encourage more kids and women into agriculture. She hopes she can set up a programme on her farm where she can bring in kids because 48% of kids in Ireland do not know where food comes from. It is unbelievable to say that 48% of our young people do not understand where food comes from. We cannot and should not lose this connection. Educating people and having someone like Carina Roseingrave who is willing to set up a programme to bring kids to her farm during the four months when the seasons change, with the calving period, milk production and cheese production, is certainly something we should embrace. I hope we might have a chat again regarding putting some funding in place for her. As Senators, we should look at a training programme and what she is willing to do on her farm if it encourages anybody to take over a farm or get into farming.
I hope my daughter is looking at this debate. The youngest girl in the house, Ellie Brady, is the only one, along with my younger son, who wants to put on the pair of wellingtons and go farming with her father every time I am at home.
She is so encouraging. She is all about technology, at 14 years of age, regarding herd watching and stuff I am lost and mind-boggled about, to be honest. When the time for scanning comes, she is the one who takes out the pen and is able to set up the phone to show a message to say that the cow is due to calve. It is unbelievable what children can do in farming.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-05-20/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:58+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-20