Maura’s month

Thousands of farm families, including my own, took part in the IFA’s first National Farm Safety Awareness Day last month.

The Farm Family Committee is very pleased with how the day went. For me, it was a particularly busy day as I was doing back-to-back media interviews all morning to make sure we could get the word out as widely as possible and to remind farm families to actually take action, get out, and do a safety review on the day.

I took time in the afternoon, gathered the family together, and we walked the farm using the HSA Risk Assessment Document as a guide to identify and discuss the risks and talk about their potential consequences. We also discussed how these hazards could be minimised and we agreed to take action as soon as possible.

Our farm is definitely a safer place now, but we can’t rest on that – farming is a dangerous occupation and we all have to remember to think safety and farm safely every day. Even one risk is one risk too many.

Promoting farm safety didn’t stop for this month of course. IFA president Eddie Downey was chairing the morning session of one of the major safety events of the year – the HSA’s National Safety Conference in Kilkenny. Mary Fleming, vice chair of the committee, also attended and said that the speakers were trying to tackle the problem of behaviour on farms – why are tragic accidents still occurring despite all the awareness surrounding farm safety?

Quality food

Two events I attended over the last month reminded me of the amazing quality of the food we produce in Ireland.

The first was an IFA showcase of Irish food, held at the beginning of July, and the second was the All-Ireland Farmers’ Market in Enniscorthy, where I was lucky enough to act as a judge.

These events showed me the incredible range, selection and quality of Irish produce. Our food is something to be truly proud of and something we should support as much as possible.

PRSI eligibility

I am very pleased that PRSI eligibility has been extended to the partners of those who are self-employed and who assist in the business.

The Farm Family Committee has always argued that access to the social insurance contributory system should be open to all.

The IFA will be producing an information leaflet on the PRSI system and how it applies to farm families in the coming weeks, to ensure that individuals are aware of how to safeguard their future income.

Back home, it’s been a month of success in our house, with Tegan winning a Connacht medal with Galway camogie and Craig passing his driver theory test.

I’m so proud of them both – and really looking forward to Craig getting his full licence so I can cut back on my taxi service hours.