Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I would like to touch briefly on the challenges facing the sheep sector. Given we are dealing with a sector that was probably already operating on a marginal basis to start with in terms of numbers, we are in a very concerning time. It was said in the witnesses' opening statements that the impact sheep farming has on a lot of rural communities is disproportionate to the income of the farmers themselves. That is because they are in some cases the lowest income farmers but they have the biggest impact because they operate on such a local basis. We have seen this across a number of sectors when we enter into periods of existential crisis. We need to put in place a system that addresses those periods of extreme price volatility. I have a few questions in that regard. The sheep welfare scheme was mentioned. It has increased from €10 to €12 but when you consider the timeframe we are talking about, in real terms farmers are getting less support. The question is whether the €2 increase this year will even offset the losses or the input cost increases that farmers have seen in the same period.

The Government has been reluctant to introduce a wool package of any meaningful nature. We have argued in the past for capital investment in supporting farmers even from an animal welfare perspective. Do the witnesses have any views on what such a package should look like? I would be very interested in hearing those. I have some questions around wool. I am told the wool council has been established. I do not think the Department issued a statement to that effect, which is surprising. Have the witnesses had interaction with the wool council yet? Do they think it has the capacity to deal with some of the challenges being faced? For the first two years after I entered this House, every time we put a question to the Minister in respect of wool we were told we had to wait until the wool feasibility study was published. The recommendations include determining the feasibility of a scouring plant and wool testing facility and incentivising the use of natural fibre products. It was certainly my expectation, and I believe that of farmers, that the wool feasibility study would answer those questions as opposed to simply posing them for further deliberation. Am I correct in thinking that? We are in a period of extreme pressures. What immediate measures are needed? What type of support package, if it was up to this committee, would the witnesses say is needed now in order to get farmers through this immediate crisis they are facing?

I am sorry; I have one more question.