The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has raised the 60% TAMS grant aid age limit for women to 66 years.
The Women in Agriculture Stakeholders Group (WASG) has welcomed confirmation from the DAFM.
Previously, the group “heavily criticised” the initial age limit of between 40 to 55 years that Minister McConalogue proposed.
The group stressed that the initial age limit “left out more women than it supported”.
60% TAMS grant for women
In a statement on Wednesday, February 2nd, Vanessa Kiely O’Connor, the ICMSA representative of the group, said:
“I know this will be warmly welcomed by the many women who contacted the WASG after the previous announcement limiting applications up to the age of 55 was made.”
“I would also like to congratulate my fellow representatives in the WASG who have given their personal time into getting this important CAP submission over the line for the women of Ireland.”
The 60% TAMS for women will come into effect in 2023. It is one of a number of measures the government has submitted as part of Ireland’s CSP to Brussels.
Besides, other measures include the option of:
- Female-only Knowledge Transfer groups;
- EIPs with a focus on improving inclusivity.
Increase the number of women farming officially
Furthermore, WASG “remains committed” to increasing the number of women farming officially from 13 to 30% by 2027.
Chair of the group, Hannah Quinn-Mulligan, said.
“These measures are just the first step in ensuring that the work of women is officially recognised on farms.”
“We know from CSO figures that 70,000 women work on farms every day and it’s time the work of those women was officially valued.
“Just 3.8% of farms are in joint male/female partnerships. We want to see a huge increase in the number of those types of partnerships.”
“We hope that farmers will see the benefit of having a woman in an official farm partnership and recognise that the 60% TAMS grant women bring to the table will strengthen family farms,” she concluded.
