Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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915. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 728 of 8 April 2025, whether it remains his Department’s position that wool is a low-carbon textile (details supplied); and whether he will offer any clarity on the relative carbon impact of wool compared with other textiles. [23203/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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At the moment, there is no known published scientific data or studies on the carbon footprint of Irish wool and therefore it is not possible to compare it to other textiles. One important aspect that would need to be considered in such a comparison is the longer life cycle of wool compared to other textiles and this would have a bearing on its carbon footprint.

Recently, the Environmental Protection Agency announced funding for a new research project entitled Regenerative Value Systems for Irish Grown Wool in Ireland (REVEIRE). Coordinated by Dr. Archishman Bose, UCC and with partners from Munster Technological University, the University of Ulster, Teagasc and the Irish Grown Wool Council, the project will develop an environmental footprint, including a carbon footprint, for Irish wool and make comparisons with other textiles. It will conclude in March 2028. Further information can be found here: www.marei.ie/project/reveire/