Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I do not how we can turn a good news story into a bad one. The possibilities of what we could do with wool are all set out in this report, which is quite good in parts but in others, if you will excuse the bad pun, is quite woolly. It is both concise and good as well as being vague, but it is not vague on the recommendations, one of which relates to a wool council. Nothing has happened since the report, which was delayed, was published. It is now almost November and still there is no wool council.

What about all the other recommendations? Have the Government and the Minister of State examined the possibilities and the recommendations that were set out, aside from the establishment of a wool council, such as the creation of an apprenticeship model for the wool sector, data collection, a feasibility study, the establishment of wool co-operatives and so on?

There is a major role here for the Government in terms of the possibilities for the use of wool for everything from fertilisers to insulation. I would like to know what the Minister of State is doing with regard to this good news story.

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