Mr. Fergal Byrne:

Yes. Having spoken to various people, we believe it has to start with the farmer. It still comes back to the €5, because the farmer has to present in writing and so forth. We have to have a proper product going forward, and that is where it is at. The Senator will probably know that the merchants got support during the Covid pandemic. This year, that has stopped. I was talking to a couple of the merchants in the past three weeks and noted it is essential for them to get the wool in clean. This is so they will have less labour. Mr. Pat Temple of Magee Weaving, who is also in the wool group, said to me that one of the things we should be looking for in respect of the €35 we are seeking is the measurement of the microns of the wool. If we had the measurements in microns of the wool from a particular farm or region, we could say the wool is not fit for fabrics or certain products but fit for insulation of a certain type, for example. We would be getting a track on the wool at that stage. If there were something like this, it would be great. Let us say, for argument’s sake, that the farmer is getting up to €1 per kilogram for his wool. Organic wool farmers – I am an organic farmer – can get 70 cent per kilogram across the board, as opposed to 20 cent per kilogram for commercial wool. This happened only in the past two years. If the same thing happened for commercial wool and we got to €1 per kilogram, and the €5 I have mentioned, it would result in a big surplus for the sheep farmer. He would have an additional income from his wool. I know we are talking about very small money but if the price could be brought up by another euro per kilogram, and if a farmer were able to get an average of €150 for his lambs – being organic, my lambs are coming in at €150 rather than €135 – it would be the difference between making money and not making it. It is the same with wool. If you were getting, say, €35 for your sheep payment and a wool price that covered the cost of shearing, in whatever way, it would make a huge difference. It would be the difference between making a viable living and not doing so. If we do not achieve this, we will have no lambs to sell and an industry lost. It is most important. We have to mind this industry.