Pippa Hackett (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The recommendation from the feasibility study was that the wool council be established by the sector itself. It was not that the Department or a Minister should guide the work in that regard. That was strongly stated in the recommendation in the feasibility study. That is what has happened. There is wide representation on the council.

I understand the council has met. I do not have a list of its meetings, but certainly it has met a couple of times since 5 April. I have engaged informally at farm events I have been at with some of the members and they seem satisfied with the progress that is being made.

The Department and I would like to see some recommendations and proposals from the council at some stage. The potential, as the Deputy says, is significant for wool. There is already some smaller-scale products coming from the wool sector here and the potential to scale those up should be explored as well. If something is working, maybe there is potential to grow it further.

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