IFA Presidential Candidate Claims Lack Of Childcare Preventing Clare Women From Pursuing Farming Careers

IFA Presidential candidate Francie Gorman pictured on his farm in Ballinakill, County Laois. Photo Finbarr O'Rourke

An IFA presidential candidate is calling for enhanced childcare supports to enable women in Clare to pursue careers in farming.

A census profile from the Central Statistics Office has found the percentage of Clare’s agriculture, forestry and fishing workers who are women has halved since 2011, dropping from 12% down to 6%.

Overall, the number of people working in agriculture, forestry and fishing in this county has increased by almost 20% with 3,615 recorded as working in these industries compared to just 3,028 in 2011.

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Ahead of the IFA Election Debate at the Inn at Dromoland tonight, IFA presidential hopeful Francie Gorman claims if women working in agriculture had greater access to childcare services, they’d be less likely to consider other career options.

You can listen to the full interview below.