McConalogue tells State-funded agriculture bodies to hire more female board members

Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue has written to all 12 boards under his aegis demanding action, saying there is an 'underrepresentation' of women on their boards. Picture: Gareth Chaney/ Collins

State-funded agriculture bodies have been told by the Government to hire more women to their boards, in a bid to improve gender balance in the sector.

Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue has written to all 12 boards under his aegis demanding action, saying there is an “underrepresentation” of women on their boards.

At present, female farmers make up just 12% (16,100) of the 137,100 family farms in the country and just 3.8% of farms are registered with the Department of Agriculture in joint female/male names.

Despite CSO figures showing that over a quarter of those working on farms (71,700) are women, their work is rarely officially recognised and they are essentially treated as a minority group.

The patriarchal and traditional succession system of passing farms from father to son has been a huge barrier for women’s access to land.

It has long been known that over 90% of Single Farm Payments go to male farmers.

Some of those bodies written to by the minister including Aquaculture Licensing Appeals Board, Bord Bia, Horse Racing Ireland, National Milk Agency, Teagasc and the Veterinary Council of Ireland have ministerial nominations to their boards and have all be called on to hire more women.

Mr McConalogue has also written to all agri-business CEOs encouraging them to offer a pathway for women into State boards.

The letters, seen by the Irish Examiner, say the Government’s policy of strengthening the gender balance on State boards means a target of at least 40% for representation of each gender on those boards must be met.

Mr McConalogue said: “In the case of the 12 State bodies for which I have responsibility, there is an underrepresentation of women on these boards. 

“I am asking the chief executives of agri-business companies to support women within their companies expressing an interest in being appointed to the boards of State bodies and to encourage those who may not as yet have considered putting themselves forward,” he said.

Mr McConalogue said registering an expression of interest in being appointed to a State board does not confer any special entitlement on the person registering, as they will be subject to the same assessment process as all other applicants.

“While I am anxious to ensure that there is gender balance on all State boards, I am conscious of the need to select the most suitable person for the position,” he said.

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He called on the boards to give some consideration to his request.

In September, Mr McConalogue appointed former tánaiste Mary Coughlan as chair of the National Conference on Women in Farming.