Lynn Boylan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Curim fáilte roimh an Aire. I was delighted to see the exciting development in the Irish wool industry of the launch of the Irish-grown wool council, which is set to bring together industry representatives to build on the potential of the sector. As colleagues have noted, this all-island council will seek to improve the quality of Irish-farmed wool and facilitate collaboration in product and market research. The council's formation is a critical step in implementing the wool feasibility study's key recommendations, which were published last year. The Irish wool industry has been undervalued for far too long. The new council will provide research, innovation and technical expertise to support the development of wool as a key industry across the island. Irish wool has a wide range of uses. The establishment of the council is an opportunity to develop the sector domestically and internationally. It is a positive step forward.

It is crucial that we ensure a fair return for sheep farmers on their wool and produce. The establishment of the council presents an opportunity to set the tone in this regard. It is a significant milestone. Wool prices have been falling for years. Reports have suggested that farmers are willing to give away their wool because the price they have been receiving does not even cover the cost of a shear. Wool used to be a very valuable commodity from which farmers could earn an additional income. Now it is an additional cost.

Wool has an incredible range of uses. It is not just a sustainable material for clothing. Its use in insulation in the building sector is important and, as we heard from Senator Boyhan, it also has a role in the development of pathways in soft peatland. We need the State to lead and develop public procurement policies that facilitate the use of wool in insulation. The climate committee has heard about issues around the certification of insulation products such as wool, which are preventing people from using it, particularly for heritage buildings. We need a cross-departmental approach to developing the market for wool, not just for clothing but also for attic insulation and insulation of heritage buildings.

Sheep farmers, like people in many other sectors, have faced unprecedented challenges over the past couple of years, including the pandemic, Brexit, the collapse in wool prices and rising input costs. More than 40,000 sheep farmers in the State are under incredible pressure. It was disappointing and a surprise that the Minister and Minister of State did not provide new supports for sheep farmers, despite a previous announcement that officials in the Department were examining the potential introduction of such supports.The sheep welfare scheme, which provides an additional €12 per eligible ewe, does not even cover the level of inflation farmers have faced. What is required is a scheme to the tune of €20 per ewe, such as that which Sinn Féin has advocated, to help sheep farmers to deal with the challenges they face.

Another opportunity for sheep farmers is the transition to organics. As it stands, many sheep farmers are very close to being organic farmers, but the reason they are not moving towards converting is that there is no market yet for organic sheep product. They need to know that there would be a financial benefit if they were to make that leap. The Minister has continuously failed to act on Sinn Féin's call for Bord Bia to have a ring-fenced budget for organic produce. It is simply not good enough to say continuously that the Government has no role in the market. We know there are reasons that countries are storming ahead with state intervention when it comes to this issue. Denmark is the gold standard when we look at developing the organic market. Denmark mandated its supermarkets to stock a percentage of organic produce. It created the market for farmers. It assured them they would have a market if they invested in going organic. We need to see that level of ambition from our Government to foster that agrifood system with built-in resilience to help absorb the economic blows during more challenging times. In the interim, I encourage anybody who eats meat, if they can afford to buy in bulk, to go directly to farmers because the product is far superior. It also means the farmers get real prices for the product they produce and do not have to be price takers from the large supermarkets.

I will conclude on an issue I think Senator Paul Daly brought up as well, that is, dog attacks. It is horrific to see sheep kills, 70 or 80 lambs and sheep killed by dogs, but we know also that there is the lower level issue of sheep worrying. It is welcome that the review of the dog control legislation has now concluded. I am very disappointed that the animal welfare organisations were excluded from that review process and siloed off into a separate review with which they had been engaging for a number of years. Also, it is deeply worrying that there were no dog behaviour experts involved in that review because we have heard at the agriculture committee that we need people who know and understand dog behaviour. The use of the terminology "dangerous dog breeds" is counterproductive. It lulls people into a false sense that their dogs that are not on that list are completely harmless, when we know that lots of very small dogs can be. Even as recently as today, a French bulldog was involved in an attack on a child. They are tiny dogs. Therefore, we need to be very careful as to how we approach this and the language we use. I would say "restricted breeds" but I ask people not to use the term "dangerous dog breeds" because it is counterproductive. There needs to be greater accountability on the part of dog owners, and we need proper enforcement of dog control legislation and repercussions for irresponsible dog owners, but we also need microchipping to be enforced. Microchipping is not only the best way for an owner to be reunited with his or her dog but also the best way, if we find dogs that are responsible for sheep worrying, that we can then hold their owners to account. I therefore call on the Minister to roll out a public awareness campaign on microchipping and informing dog owners of their obligations under the law to have their dogs microchipped, to have that information updated regularly and to inform the microchip databases when a dog passes on. I will also make a call to the farming organisations. The Irish Farmers Association and the ICSA have come before the committee and have talked about the real harms being done through sheep worrying and dog attacks, but I ask them to reach out to their members and to ensure that they inform their members to get their dogs microchipped. The likelihood is that the dogs are coming from within the community, so we need everybody putting out that very public message that if you are a dog owner, you have responsibilities, and one of those responsibilities is to microchip.