International Year of the Woman Farmer: Motion Seanad Éireann — 2026-05-20 ============================================================ Lorraine Clifford-Lee (FF), Nominated by the Taoiseach I very much welcome the opportunity to discuss this important topic. I commend Senator Boyhan on putting it on our schedule and the Minister on coming here to partake in this very important debate in this, the United Nations International Year of the Women Farmer, which aims to recognise and support women working across agriculture and food systems. This is so important when we look at the issue of climate change and increasing food insecurity in many parts of the world. We must examine food security ourselves. While we are not in any immediate danger the evidence shows that food security will become an increasing problem even here in Ireland. This country has a lot of very good agricultural land and we need to make sure that we maintain good agricultural land while retaining sustainable communities. While energy security is being discussed a lot at the moment, the food security of this country is a very important aspect that is not getting enough conversation and attention. I know that the Minister will bring that conversation forward and keep the issue of food security for us in Ireland but also globally to the forefront of his work. As part of food security, Senators have mentioned the work that Irish Aid does overseas to support communities across Africa and some countries but, in particular, supporting women farmers in those communities. When we support women farmers, whether that is here in Ireland or abroad, then we support communities because we know that when we support and empower women then we support communities. We are supporting their communities and children to prosper. As a result these countries are more stable and do better overall. Women face many barriers in agriculture here in Ireland and many colleagues have touched on the issues that women face. Access to capital and assets are particularly acute within the farming sector and we need to have a cultural conversation on that. If the agricultural industry in Ireland is to be sustainable and if we are going to retain people on the land and keep them farming family farms, then we need to have a more open and honest discussion about families and how they look at women within the family system inheriting land and not only working and contributing on the farm, which women have done for generations. Both of my grandmothers were farmers though not on paper and I doubt that they had very much say in what happened on the financial side of things but they worked day in and day out while raising very big families on small landholdings in counties Kerry and Waterford. It is very important that the contribution of women is recognised. Some strides have been made in recent years but still women who have worked on farms for many years have difficulty in accessing pension rights. That is something that we need to look at but, like I said, we need to have that cultural conversation around that. I know many women farmers in north County Dublin where I am and they work in the industries of horticulture and agriculture. They produce top quality products and maintain the land but there are many barriers. We know that just over 13% of farm holders registered in Ireland are women farm holders but that does not reflect the reality on the ground and the many women engaged in agriculture, horticulture and food industries. Access to land and succession are issues that have been touched on. Both leave many women very vulnerable within marriages and if they ever seek to leave a marriage and divorce. We all know of situations in which women have been left very vulnerable and unable to leave, perhaps a very abusive situation, because of the situation around the holding of land. Many men have also been left in vulnerable situations. Senators have mentioned that some men have felt obliged to stay on the family farm, and how succession is held over them in that the farm is not signed over until a very late stage and some are well advanced in years but there is always that threat that they could lose everything. We need to have a cultural conversation as it would benefit women, men and this country because agriculture, even though it is diminished in terms of its importance in this country when we consider tech and pharma exports, agriculture is still very important and in particular in respect of food security. It is culturally important to have agriculture at the heart of communities. Whether these are communities in north County Dublin, Donegal, Westmeath or Cork, they are different but the same and we value and respect them. Over the years many studies at a European Union level have been done on countries that have thriving agricultural and rural communities, which show that such countries do better overall in terms of social cohesion and societal expectations. Therefore, it is important for all of us that farmers are supported and particularly women farmers. I would like to pay tribute to the many organisations that support women farmers and have supported rural women down through the years. I want to mention the Irish Countrywomen's Association, which has advocated for women farmers and women in rural Ireland down through the years. I pay particular tribute to the ICA guilds in my own area. I deal with them a lot and have many friends involved in the ICA. The ICA guilds in Lusk, Balbriggan, Garristown and Swords have been doing fantastic work for generations. They keep women connected, educated and supported in rural Ireland. --- 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/2026-05-20/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:58+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-05-20