Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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946. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the details of planned supports in Budget 2026 for the Irish wool sector aimed at improving farmer returns, such as investment in processing, branding, or innovation initiatives; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47917/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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The budgetary process for 2026 is still underway. I am therefore not in a position to give any specific details in relation to Budget 2026 at this time.

My Department has committed €550,000 in research funding for the SPRINGWOOL project: “Spring Wool - removing bottlenecks and providing a springboard for innovation in the Irish Grown Wool sector". This research project aims to provide innovative solutions to transform the Irish wool sector in areas such as the treatment of scouring wastewater and the development of wool biorefinery.

I am also aware of an EPA funded project, entitled ‘Regenerative Value Systems for Irish Grown Wool in Ireland (REVEIRE)’ which seeks to address the economics of wool production in the context of a sustainable, circular bioeconomy. This project will investigate feasibility and business models of novel scalable scouring through biorefinery to assess the potential of local scouring of wool across the island of Ireland.

These research projects will give all stakeholders involved in the wool sector a better understanding of what is required to develop Irish wool and add value to the Irish wool brand.