Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 8 March 2023

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Development of Sheep Sector: Discussion

Photo of Victor BoyhanVictor Boyhan (Independent)
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I thank the Cathaoirleach and the other members of the committee. I will be brief. I congratulate Mr. Brendan Crosse and Mr. Michael Crosse. It is great to see enterprise, and particularly agri-enterprise. They might touch on the availability of grants and supports, if any, received from local enterprise offices. The business is probably too small for Enterprise Ireland. What have they tapped into in terms of supports? Clearly, they have an energy. It is great to see. There is a demand for alternatives to cow's milk. They have identified that, and at a premium. The issue is sheep milk production at a scale that is viable. They are talking about importing it, which will come as a surprise to some. That is the reality, however. They might touch on that.

I will wind up with two or three questions for the IFA and then go. I thank the IFA for a comprehensive and detailed submission. I want to focus on the wool market. From Mr. Cullinan's comments, I gather that there has been only one meeting of the wool council. He might give us some feedback on the wool market and the discussions that have taken place. It is clearly flat; we do not need to be convinced of that. The wool council was hailed as a great initiative by the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Senator Hackett. I would be interested to hear about Mr. Cullinan's engagement in that regard.

Bord Bia will be appearing before the committee two weeks from now. There were strong messages in both the organisations' statements. Bord Bia was mentioned. The witnesses might tell us, in a few sentences, what they would like us to raise with Bord Bia. We will start with Sheep Milk Ireland.