Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Senator Pippa Hackett):

I share the Deputy’s passion for wool and the value it could provide to society and the economy and, ultimately, to sheep farmers. I am a sheep farmer and we sheared our sheep this week. As we established the independent review, which recommended that the best way to explore the opportunities for Irish-grown wool is through the establishment of the council, we must, at this stage, support the council in everything it does.

I would like the council to come back to me to present proposals that might work. Ultimately, the council is more of an expert on this than I am or my Department officials are. Its members are the shearers, wool merchants, crafters and innovators. The Deputy is correct in listing all the potentials of wool. They are vast and go far beyond what ordinary people think of when they think of wool. They probably just think of a woolly jumper that is slightly itchy, but there is much more potential in this regard. The challenge is that although that potential has been tapped in other countries and jurisdictions, it has not yet attracted that investment in Ireland. What we are ultimately trying to achieve here is a demand for the products which can come from wool and to build on that through investment, either from a broader scope or within this country.

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