Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am aware that we do not have enough time but maybe this is the start of a conversation or debate on the matter. To go back to the word "transformative", we cannot continue to do business as we have done. That is the message from climate change and the emergency we have declared. We need to go local again and go small.

With regard to the seaweed industry, the Dáil passed in 2017 or 2018 a motion I had tabled on recognising the potential of seaweed for local communities. Nothing has happened since. It is the exact same with wool. Sheep farmers are rightly complaining about getting no price for wool when there is a fantastic opportunity to deliver an indigenous industry given the various potential uses of wool.

I realise the White Paper was produced only in December. There is an absolute commitment to regional development. What is the Northern and Western Regional Assembly saying? It is saying the gap between its region and others has progressively widened in many spheres. It states this worrying trend has been attributed to a lack of investment in infrastructure assets.

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