Niall Ó Brolcháin (Green Party)

I call for a debate on the future of sheep farming because the sheep farmers in the west are under great threat. The cost of shearing a sheep is now dearer than the price fetched for a fleece. There is also a demographic issue with many of the younger generation not taking up sheep farming.

The carpet in Dáil Éireann was manufactured in Galway with wool from the west. Carpet manufacturing in the west does not happen anymore which is causing a deficit in the wool industry. We need to examine imaginative measures for wool use. For example, wool is suitable for home insulation. This would help provide a market for sheep farmers as it is already difficult to survive financially in many rural parts.

Various Senators, including Senator Coffey, believe rural Ireland will collapse as a result of the €6 one-off charge for puppy farming. There is little evidence of this, however.