The report on the role of women in agriculture, to which Ms Carroll referred, focused on the importance of gender proofing. However, last September the Department of Agriculture and Food published an explanatory guide to the CAP reform decision. A person reading this guide would not think women were involved in agriculture. It refers to the farmer, his land, his pension and his rights and to the farmer leaving his land to his son. This is a small example of how the Department still does not acknowledge the role of women in agriculture.
Specific problems face women in agriculture. I am thinking of recent headlines such as, "Hearing the Woman's Voice", "Changing the Landscape for Farm Women", "One Woman's Search for Parity" and "Whose Farm is it Anyway?". These indicate that there are issues for women in agriculture.
Last year we had consultation throughout the country and came face to face with many of these issues. Some of the key issues for women in agriculture, identified through the IFA structure and committees, include PRSI for farm spouses. Many women in agriculture have worked all their lives on a farm. Now as many of them reach retirement they do not form part of the statistics and there is no record of them ever having worked, which is terrible.
In our system farmers, like other self-employed people, pay class S PRSI which typically covers only one person, the farmer. Farmers' spouses or partners, usually the wife, who assist and participate in the farm business are not covered for social insurance purposes as self-employed persons or as employees. They are treated as qualified adult dependants as regards payments and benefits. Although a group of officials from the relevant Department met and made a recommendation, this has not advanced the issue. This group proposed the partnership option as a solution. However, the reality is that Ireland has a slow uptake on partnership.
We should not conclude that the issue of PRSI coverage has been resolved by the availability of the partnership option. The most recent Central Statistics Office figures show that only 3% of the Department of Agriculture and Food's client database is held in joint names, despite the fact that 68% of farmers operating farms are married. A code of practice from the Department as well as partnership proofing of schemes could usefully help this situation.
Herd numbers are central to farming life and the financial operation of farms. Only 10% of herd numbers are registered in female names. Joint herd numbers are allowed but are not very common, amounting to only 3% of all herd owners. Many farm spouses believe, rightly or wrongly, that the Department of Agriculture and Food does not allow them to maintain a herd number in their own right because of their gender or marital status. On the death of a herd owner, the difficulty of transfer of payment to the spouse needs review. Payments should be easily available to the spouse and family, especially at such a difficult time.
The lack of representation of women in decision-making structures in agriculture has been clearly identified. In terms of farming organisations and other agri-political structures women do not participate to any great extent. The capacity of women to participate effectively at varying levels is a fundamental issue. In 1993, the then Government announced a policy to ensure that at least 40% of all State board members would be women. This is as low as 14% in some Departments, among which is the Department of Agriculture and Food. We recognise and support the Minister's call for more women on agricultural boards. This is vital to change attitudes and culture regarding women in agriculture.
The IFA has been criticised in the past for not nominating women to vacancies on State agricultural boards. However, the IFA is a democratic organisation where people are elected to positions and it is the person in the relevant position who gets the nomination to the relevant board. The number of women in such positions in the IFA is relatively low which means we do not have a sufficient pool of women from which to nominate board members. However, the IFA equality project is actively working to increase the number of women in such key positions and in agricultural politics generally.
Our culture has much to do with the lack of involvement of women. The key overarching theme affecting women's role in agriculture is the culture of a male dominated sector. In broad terms this covers the lack of representation of women on boards, attitudes of farm support agencies to the role of women on farms, the portrayal of the image of women farmers and the traditional transfer of land through the male line. All this makes it difficult for women to take their rightful position in the agricultural world. The attitude exists where somebody drives into a yard and asks "Where's the boss?" without ever imagining that the boss might be the woman to whom they are speaking.
It is time for action and in order to make real change, especially in light of cultural factors, we need to make progressive radical changes. It is not that nothing has changed but that the change has been so fragmented and so slow. When one considers that no less than 19 different Departments and agencies are involved in reviewing the implementation of the recommendations of the 2000 report of the advisory committee on the role of women in agriculture, it is hardly surprising that change has been this slow.
We came here today because we are determined to drive forward the agenda for women in Irish agriculture. Women in agriculture demand a commitment from Government that it will give serious priority to our agenda. We demand a commitment that the Government will put structures in place to oversee the full implementation of core recommendations which have been on the table for years. Our Croke Park conference declaration, which was supported by 600 delegates, called on the Government to set up a women in agriculture unit which would lead the development and implementation of viable strategies and policies in full co-operation with other Departments and agencies. We hope that will happen from today. Thank you.