Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for clarifying that submissions are still being accepted. I thank the Minister who will be dealing with the next questions on the progress that has been made. However, we have been waiting on the policy for the islands for so long and on interdepartmental reports.

Going back to the topic of seaweed, these are good news stories we are ignoring. I am only picking two or three, the latest of which was the story on wool. You read a report that tells you about the potential of wool, only for the Government to do a Pontius Pilate and says it is up to the industry. The industry has not done it. The farmers who depend on sheep and say they are not getting any price for their wool, are begging for help and leadership on this. Of course they will work with the Government, but it has not happened. Therefore, the new policy must look at indigenous industries in a real way and look at regional imbalance. The Minister of State seated beside the Minister knows very well that the north west has been downgraded by Europe for the second time. There is something seriously wrong here in that we are not taking charge with a different vision of the possibilities that exist, with the people on the ground, and having co-ops as a serious part of that vision.

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