International Year of the Woman Farmer: Motion
Seanad Éireann — 2026-05-20
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Aubrey McCarthy (IND), University of Dublin

I thank the Minister for being here. I am proud to be a signatory to Senator Boyhan's motion. The women who farm this land deserve far better than the system has given them in the past. This year is the United Nations International Year of the Woman Farmer. That recognition matters because for generations women have been the backbone of rural Ireland. I was brought up on a farm and my mother was the backbone of the whole family. As Senator Daly said, often they are not on the cheque books or the cattle herd numbers and so on, but they are certainly the backbone. Often they are invisible within the agricultural system itself. Only 13% of farms in Ireland are owned by women. That statistic shows we have a long way to go. It is not a reflection of women's ability or ambitions, but it certainly reflects barriers around ownership, succession and opportunity which still exist today.
Globally, women make up to 41% of the agrifood workforce, but they continue to face disadvantages in accessing land, funding and even education, which I will mention in a moment. It shows the scale when we look at Europe. The United Nations estimates that empowering women in agriculture could reduce food insecurity for up to 45 million people worldwide. That shows the scale of what is possible when women are properly supported and valued. Ireland is proud to co-sponsor the initiative at the United Nations and I welcome that, but support abroad must also translate to meaningful action here. If we want an example, and many examples were given by my colleague, I often think of Anna May McHugh and how she transformed the National Ploughing Championships into the largest outdoor agricultural event in Europe. She became one of the most respected figures in Irish farming and also in business. She played a major role and broke the glass ceiling for women in agriculture. Her daughter Anna Marie works alongside her.
Another issue that must be brought up is education. Senator Boyhan suggested an initiative as part of the leaving certificate that would bring in the green certificate as part it. He said that we must actively and encourage support for agriculture in education through schools and colleges, but I will highlight the issues surrounding the Irish National Stud's thoroughbred breeding management course, which Senator Boyhan and I recently raised with the Minister. It is an internationally respected programme with strong agricultural competencies, yet graduates are excluded from trained farmer status due to technical European credit transfer and accumulation system, ECTS, requirements. Many graduates are women from farming backgrounds. This is exactly the kind of bureaucratic barrier that discourages people. I know this motion is about more than recognition; it is about fairness, visibility and opportunity. However, that green cert is an opportunity to make a difference.
The International Year of the Woman Farmer will pass, but the decisions we make can have a lasting legacy. As Senator Brady mentioned, we need more Ellie Bradys. Let us make a decision that we support women farmers.

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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