Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister. We would expect nothing less from a Minister from Donegal with great knowledge and experience of sheep to be a great advocate of the sheep industry. I want to acknowledge that.

When the Minister spoke about Carndonagh and the mart there and about Carrigallen in the lovely county of Leitrim, I was reminded of the great excitement, trading and the conversation about sheep, the sheep industry and its potential. He paints a very good picture. I have visited both places and experienced the trade that goes on there. I genuinely thank the Minister for his amazing concern and commitment. Again, I would expect nothing less from him because he has such experience of agriculture. That is why I presume he was picked to serve as Minister. My experience of engaging with him on the agriculture committee has been exemplary. I thank him for and acknowledge that. It is not always easy coming to cross-party engagement with questions and answers in the committee rooms but he is always respectful and professional in the manner in which he deals with agriculture.

I want to welcome the people in the Public Gallery. It is an important day. I will not spend too much time talking about the sheep meat sector per se. I am a member of the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, as are others here, so I have many opportunities to speak there. However, I would like to acknowledge the important work that the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmer Association, ICSA, and the Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association, INHFA, for what they do in respect of the sheep sector. They are two organisations that we may not always hear enough about. They are very active and supportive and I acknowledge the very professional manner in which they represent their members. Sometimes they get lost in the bigger picture involving other agricultural representative groups.

Back in March I travelled to Leitrim to the ICSA for the sheep sector crisis meeting. It was interesting to meet sheep farmers there and talk with them about their concerns and the big issues. One focus was on sheep wool, a matter on which I will focus. I thank the Minister, who was instrumental in getting the new Irish wool council up and running. He referred to a funding commitment of €30,000. It is a start, but more may be needed. I hope that he will be open to that, based on the council's hoped-for success. I know that is an initial set-up cost but it is not a lot of money in the bigger scheme of promoting wool on the international market. The ICSA and the INHFA have representatives on the new council. That is important because if it is to be successful, the council must be made up of a broad range of people involved in the wool sector. It includes farmer representatives, shearers, merchants, crafters, representatives from industry, from textile manufacturing, as well as those engaged in research and education. They come from all around the wool sector. That is the broad brief of the council. The broad range of skills of the people who are directly involved with the council will stand to it. I am confident that this new wool council – we had one before – will breathe new life into the wool sector and will focus on increasing return for sheep farmers and their wool.

Irish wool has been underappreciated and undervalued for far too long. Think of the huge opportunities for wool in fashion, household wares and insulation. There is always new research on it. There have been trials in relation to a mix of wool in mushroom production. I do not think it has been very successful but at least it has been tried. We see it in horticultural matting and mulching. It is used in fertilisers where it is used as a mix and ground in to fertiliser to assist in spreading them. Wool is fully biodegradable given time.

My principal request to the Minister is that he would include an action relating to wool in the new sheep improvement scheme. That has not yet happened. The Minister will be aware that the ICSA is seeking a payment for shearing and presenting clean, dry wool for onward use. The payment rate under the sheep improvement scheme needs to be increased significantly. A wool action should form part of that process. I would ask the Minister to give that some consideration. It has much merit. If we are going to sustain the sheep sector and particularly the sheep wool sector, we know we will need to improve this. Historically, most of it went to Bradford. The curing of wool is a challenge for us in Ireland. We need to look at opportunities on the island of Ireland in terms of the all-Ireland agricultural policy. Maybe there are synergies on the island in this regard. A payment such as that to which I refer would also provide a solid foundation for everything the wool council is trying to achieve. As a result, the Minister’s support is critical. Sheep, the environment and wool sector would be all the better for it.

While I am on my feet, I wish to acknowledge Coleman Keane wool merchant in Gort, County Galway, with whom I have engaged for many years. I understand that his company has ceased trading in wool, for which he has been a great advocate, because there is virtually no market for it. One cannot give the stuff away, and that is a challenge.

The Minster, Senators and I know that wool has a value. It is important, therefore, that it is used and exploited. Through the new wool council, we have a pathway to breathe life back into the Irish wool industry which is important for sheep farmers.

We have to keep working with Bord Bia to channel new markets internally and externally. Are any trade missions planned in the coming months for meat generally but also with a focus on lamb? Representatives from Bord Bia were before the joint committee. They spoke about Bord Bia's market research and how it is providing recipes and information to promote better ways to cook lamb at home. Many people will be aware of the recipes that are published online every month. Bord Bia is engaging with new ideas. People are interested. There is still a huge market for meat despite the detractors in general and those in the political establishment who think that we should only be eating plant-based food. There is a real market for meat in this country and internationally. Why would there not be when we have such a high standard of meat and are meat producers? Let us keep working with Bord Bia and expand the market. Can the Minister share his plans for external trade, engagement and the missions he hopes to undertake in the coming months to promote meat in general and lamb and mutton in particular?