Erin McGreehan (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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783. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will confirm whether he intends to do more than provide a modest seed grant to the Wool Council; whether there are any plans to ensure oversight and accountability mechanisms for this independent body; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39039/25]

Erin McGreehan (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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784. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the actions he is taking to support the development of value-added wool products, such as insulation and other innovative applications; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39040/25]

Erin McGreehan (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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785. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the supports that are envisaged to incentivise Irish SMEs to invest in the processing and marketing of Irish wool; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39041/25]

Erin McGreehan (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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786. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the engagement that has taken place with Enterprise Ireland, the SEAI, or other relevant agencies to develop a cross-departmental approach to Irish wool commercialisation; if he will consider establishing a dedicated funding stream or innovation challenge to accelerate this work; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39042/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 783, 784, 785 and 786 together.

In 2022, my Department published an in-depth study of the Irish wool market called Review of Market Opportunities for Irish-Grown Wool Based Products. The main recommendation of the report was the establishment of an all-Island Wool Council to drive the development of the wool sector. The Council was to be a non-statutory body, independent of Government. Notwithstanding this, my Department provided €30,000 in grant funding to enable the Council to get off the ground.

The Irish Grown Wool Council was launched in 2023. Its vision is to bring wool stakeholders across the Island of Ireland together to realise the potential of wool as a natural, sustainable, and versatile material, build on wool’s rich heritage to enhance understanding and appreciation of the characteristics of Irish ‘grown’ wool and facilitate collaboration in product / market research and ultimately applying innovative product solutions to address current challenges and create future opportunities. The stated aims of the Wool Council are:

1. Establish an All-Island Irish “Grown” Wool Council to promote the brand.
2. Collaborate with a Wool Research Innovation Hub.
3. Run school and public programmes on the attributes of Irish Grown Wool to address the dearth of data available on Irish Grown Wool.
4. Develop an Irish Grown Wool standard and ensure traceability from farm to needle regardless of where scoured.
5. Support regionally based primary producer owned Wool Co-ops.
6. Seek contract wool grading and logistics arrangements to facilitate a regionally based wool industry feeding a national promotional, sales and marketing operation.
7. Encourage better awareness and training on wool handling and presentation. Re-instate traditional wool handling and presentation standards training programmes for primary producers, shearers, merchants and graders.