Thomas Gould
Ceist:100. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the measures in Budget 2023 to support women farmers. [53166/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraTuesday, 25 October 2022
Ceisteanna (100)
Freagraí scríofa
Budget 2023 provides for a €2.14 billion allocation for my Department, the highest ever level of funding allocated to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. This represents an increase of €283m on the 2022 provision, or a 13% increase overall, to support farmers, fishers, and rural and coastal communities.
In addition to supporting farm families, including women farmers, dealing with the immediate and ongoing fallout of the illegal invasion of Ukraine, Budget 2023 also lays the groundwork for strategic supports for the sector through the new €10 billion CAP Strategic Plan (CSP).
Gender equality is a key a priority for me and the Government. It is also a core principle of the European Union and the new CAP Regulations place particular focus on promoting the participation of women in the socio-economic development of rural areas, with special attention to farming.
I am proud to be the Minister to brining forward specific measures aimed improving gender balance, gender equality and increasing the participation of women in farming as part of the CAP Strategic Plan. Ireland’s CSP, which will deliver some €10bn to farm families over the next five years, includes innovative proposals to promote gender equality:
An increased rate of grant aid of 60% for women farmers aged 40-66 years under the Capital Investment Scheme;
Women-only Knowledge Transfer (KT) Groups; and,
A call under the European Innovation Partnerships (EIP) initiative for proposals to examine women’s participation in agriculture.
In addition, Food Vision 2030, the stakeholder-led strategy for the Irish agri-food sector, includes a number of actions to promote and improve gender balance at all levels. It also recommends the establishment of female farmers’ networks and other supports to better understand and meet the needs of Irish women farmers, fishers and rural female entrepreneurs.
It also proposed holding a national event on women in agriculture and I recently announced that former Tánaiste and Minister for Agriculture, Mary Coughlan, will chair such an event next year. This event will be funded by my Department’s Vote allocation under Budget 2023.
Also, since 2015, my Department has provided support for rural female entrepreneurs under the ACORNS programme. This initiative involves the development and implementation of a tailored programme to support early-stage female entrepreneurs living in rural Ireland. I recently launched a new call for applications and approximately 50 participants have been selected for the six-month programme that will run from October 2022 to April 2023. This will be funded through my Department’s Budget 2023 Vote allocation.
In summary, gender equality is a priority for the Government, and I have ensured it is robustly supported through my Department's Budget for 2023 and in the new CSP.