Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his response. It is clear important work is going on and that is very welcome. I will emphasise the importance of continued investment in the area of research and development. We need to continue that work if we are to give opportunities to residents of parts of the country such as where I come from in south Kerry to have prosperous futures.

As I said, I welcome the ongoing efforts but I wish to bring to the Minister of State's attention an area that has recently been brought to my attention in my constituency. It is, perhaps, something that warrants further investigation and that is the possibility of using wool. We are aware, for example, the Chinese market, in particular, is inaccessible at the moment but we could look at possibilities in the areas of insulation or, perhaps, other uses. I am interested to hear the Minister of State's views and whether he will be able to look into that further.

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