The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue has been accused of forcing women on farms to "jump through hoops" in order to access an increased rate of grant aid of 60% in the next Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

The minister recently announced that this grant aid - in the form of Targeted Agriculture Modernisation Schemes (TAMS) - would only be accessible to women aged 41-55 years’.

But it has also been confirmed that a formal agricultural qualification is also required.

This, according to the Women in Agriculture Stakeholders Group (WASG), shows that Minister McConalogue has missed the point on tackling inclusivity on farms.

"There are women over the proposed age limit that are working on their family farms and not getting official recognition for their work," said Vanessa Kiely O’Connor, who is the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA) representative on the group.

Analysis of the most recent figures from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) show that just over 5,000 women officially farming fit into this 41-55-year age category.

But, according to the WASG, there are an additional 70,000 women working on farms in an unrecognised capacity.

The WASG has made the following recommendations to the DAFM:

“The WASG is trying to assist the government to achieve our national and European commitment to gender balance within Irish agriculture to get the from just 12% of women farming to over 25% by the end of the next CAP. We will not be able to achieve this with barriers such as age being put forward by the DAFM.”

Her comments were echoed by the WASG chair, Hannah Quinn-Mulligan, who added that at worst, the measures announced were a cynical attempt to pay lip service to gender equality while making the scheme criteria so narrow that only a small minority would be able to avail of the it.

“For many women, this could be their only chance of ensuring they become equal partners on the farms they’ve spent the best part of their lives working on – hopefully the minister recognises the weight of his responsibility and does not let them down,” she said.