Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I came from a committee meeting in order to come in briefly on this matter. It is something I have followed up on. It is now nearly three years since the Government committed to doing something in this area. A sum of €100,000 was made available for the feasibility study. The latter is concise in parts and unfocused in others. What is clear, however, is what was recommended, namely: the establishment of a wool council; training to be provided in respect of wool handling, presentation, sorting and grading; data collection; creation of an apprenticeship; and the establishment of wool co-operatives. I do not have time to go through it all. It was precise. There has been €100,000 spent. Another €30,000 was allocated for a wool council. Has that been drawn down? Who will drive this? Does the Minister of State envisage the wool council driving it? Does she envisage the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine having a primary role? I am of the view that it should have such a role. We need to turn this into the good news story that it is. Earlier, Deputy Carthy or one of the other Deputies raised the problem of farmers getting very little money. This is one area with significant possibilities, and that is the clearest point set out in the study.

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