Skip to main content
Normal View

Departmental Reports

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 15 September 2021

Wednesday, 15 September 2021

Questions (797)

Matt Carthy

Question:

797. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the status of the €100,000 report on the development of a woollen industry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43586/21]

View answer

Written answers

As the Deputy is aware, the Programme for Government contained a commitment to undertake a review of the potential demand in domestic and international markets for wool based products such as insulation and fertilisers. Following the allocation of €100,000 in Budget 2021 for this review, I initiated a public consultation process in early March 2021 to determine the terms of reference for such a review and to provide opportunity for submissions and comments from interested parties on the potential market opportunities for wool products on the domestic and international markets. Over 40 submissions were received on the potential market opportunities for wool products on the domestic and international markets.

The terms of reference for the review are as follows:

- identification of market opportunities domestically and internationally for wool based products;

- carrying out economic feasibility and cost benefit analysis on proposed market opportunities;

- determining mechanisms that could be used to support industry initiatives;

- identification of potential research projects applicable to supporting the identified market opportunities.

On the 8th July 2021, the Request for Tenders (RFT) seeking service providers to carry out this major study was published in accordance with public procurement procedures. The closing date for receipt of submissions was 9th August 2021 and I am very pleased with the response.

The successful service provider will be contracted to carry out a feasibility study in accordance with the Terms of Reference detailed above and will be also required to examine and evaluate the proposals received during the public consultation and produce a report on their findings. The process of evaluating the tender responses is currently underway and I hope to be in a position to appoint the successful tenderer by late September.

I also intend to establish a stakeholder group to provide a platform for strategic engagement on core issues in the sector. The time frame for the completion of the review including publication of the final report is end of 2021.

The recommendations from this review will help focus the development of a robust policy roadmap for the Irish wool industry.

Top
Share