Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 5 October 2021
775. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of farm partnerships; the number which name a woman as part of the partnership; the number of new farm partnerships registered since 2016; the number registered since 2016 on which a woman is a named partner, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48117/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraRegistered Farm Partnerships involve the coming together of two or more farmers to operate the farm business as a single entity. Partnerships have a number of benefits for participants. They improve scale and efficiency of agricultural production by encouraging the consolidation of blocks of land held and operated by farmers not within the same family.
They also encourage new skills and specialisation through the required enhanced educational qualifications of the partners and offer a better work-life balance. In addition, they contribute to improving the age structure of Irish agriculture as the creation of a Registered Farm Partnership often allows parents and children to commence the process of inter-generational farm transfer.
Currently, there are 3,362 active Registered Farm Partnerships (RFPs) with 1,441 of these having at least one female partner. Since 2016, 2,584 new RFPs have been established, of which 1,127 have a female partner.
