Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 1 December 2021
228. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will give favourable consideration to the issues detailed in correspondence concerning the need to improve the conditions of a Department scheme (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59312/21]
View answerThe new CAP places a particular focus on promoting the participation of women in the socio-economic development of rural areas, with special attention to farming.
Member States are required to strengthen their capacity in gender mainstreaming and in the collection of sex disaggregated data. The SWOT and Needs Analyses exercises prepared as part of the development of Ireland’s new CAP Strategic Plan (CSP) 2023-2027 point to the need to increase opportunities for women in agriculture and business development.
Some 45 submissions on the need to increase supports for women in agriculture were received as part of the public consultation on the proposed draft interventions for the CSP. My Department has engaged extensively with stakeholders and has taken these submissions into consideration, resulting in some new innovative proposals to promote gender equality in the draft CSP.
In addition, to date, some 29 submissions on supports for women in agriculture have been received as part of the current public consultation on the draft Environmental Report on the draft CSP. These submissions will be considered as part of the process to finalise the CSP in advance of the end-of-year deadline.
Consultation is also continuing via the CAP Consultative Committee and through bilateral engagement with the main representative bodies, including the Women in Agriculture group.
Measures in the CSP will be complemented by the new stakeholder strategy for the Irish agri-food sector, Food Vision 2030, which recognises the important contribution of women to the sector's long-term sustainability and includes a number of actions to promote and improve gender balance at all levels.
