Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The wool council is an industry-led approach. I understand it met before Christmas and is due to meet again soon. We will continue to work closely with it in its deliberations and on recommendations that come from there. Other work we have done in this area, including the support for early stage producer organisations, which will be introduced later this year, will strengthen the position of sheep farmers in the supply chain. As we both agree, this is ultimately about doing everything we can to strengthen the hand of farmers and getting the best price for their product. We recognise the pressures on sheep farmers' margins are largely because of the input costs, with those costs being high as a result of the invasion of Ukraine. This is a time of year when sheep farmers, in the middle of a busy lambing period, are facing significant costs for feed and fertiliser in particular. Those are the challenges and we are examining every opportunity to support sheep farmers through this difficult time.

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