Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the setting up of the wool council. I very much welcome the setting up of the Wool Research and Innovation Hub. I am a little concerned. It has been over a year. I am on record as saying that the report was excellent in parts and woolly in others, but that the potential for the wool industry was huge. There is a role for the Government in this. I am concerned that the Department seems to be taking a step back in relation to this rather than a active role. If one thinks of IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland, here we are with farmers getting very little for their wool and significant potential within the wool industry. I would like to see more engagement from the Department in that regard.

I would like to have an outline of the governance of the wool council and its reporting relationship with the Department. How often has it met? Has the Department been in on those meetings? What is the feedback mechanism and the overall monitoring of that? Has it been formed as a company limited by guarantee?

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