Agriculture Minister Martin Heydon has said that “gender equality in agriculture is a key priority of mine”, highlighting increased grant rates of up to 60% for women farmers under certain schemes.
Speaking in response to a parliamentary question from Fianna Fáil TD Grace Boland this week, the Fine Gael Minister outlined a range of initiatives aimed at promoting female participation in farming and the agri-food sector.
Heydon said he was “actively promoting gender equality” through Ireland’s CAP Strategic Plan, including a 60% grant rate under the Women Farmers’ Capital Investment Scheme for trained women farmers.
He noted that the Knowledge Transfer Programme now includes the option of women-only groups, and that gender data collection is being improved under the CAP framework.
“We are also leveraging the National CAP Network to increase female participation,” he said.
“Funding of €650,000 over three years is being provided to a European Innovation Partnership focused on helping women on farms, particularly in relation to working with machinery and livestock.”
The Minister pointed to future changes at EU level, saying the European Commission has proposed that from 2028 onwards, gender data collection will become a mandatory element of CAP supports.
“For the first time, we are collecting gender data of aid applicants to develop more robust baseline information,” he said.
Heydon said that Ireland’s agri-food strategy, Food Vision 2030, recognised the importance of gender balance to the sustainability of primary producers, and included measures to improve it.
“A key commitment was to hold a National Dialogue on Women in Agriculture, which took place in 2023,” he said.
“This provided a platform to explore gender equality in farming and the wider agri-food sector, identifying challenges and exploring possible solutions.”
According to Heydon, implementation of the national action plan on women in agriculture is underway, with a detailed progress report expected in early 2026.
He also highlighted ongoing State support for the ACORNS programme, which provides mentoring for early-stage female entrepreneurs in rural Ireland.
“With up to 50 spaces available each year, 2025 has seen a record 200 applications from women seeking to benefit from this award-winning programme,” he said.
Heydon added that significant progress had been made in meeting the Government’s 40% female participation target on State boards.
“In the 13 boards under my remit, 10 have reached or exceeded the target as of June 2025,” he said.
“As we enter the second half of this decade, it is timely to reflect on what has been achieved and to ensure that Ireland’s agri-food strategy remains ambitious, focused, and responsive to evolving challenges and opportunities.”