Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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330. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he is aware that Irish grown wool scarves given by the Irish Grown Wool Council to Ministers attending St. Patricks Day parades abroad to showcase were 100% Irish grown wool products, and not 60%, as stated in a response in Dáil Éireann to a Parliamentary Question on 13 June 2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27225/24]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The Irish Grown Wool Council celebrated St. Patrick’s Day by commissioning bespoke knitted white woollen throws and emerald green scarves, using Irish grown wool sourced from farms on the Island of Ireland.

The company that produced the items noted on the Irish Grown Wool Council's website, "We knitted the throws and scarves using ‘Irish Heather Yarn’ from Donegal Yarns, which has 60% fine Irish wool, sourced from farms across the island of Ireland, blended with 40% New Zealand wool."

The Irish Grown Wool Council issued the following clarification statement: "This percentage is important to emphasise because one of the key challenges for the Irish wool sector is that the majority of Irish-grown wool from our sheep breeds is greater than 30 microns in fibre diameter, making it a coarser fibre and largely unsuitable for 100% use in apparel (except for select breeds). However, the majority of the 4m sheep in Ireland are a mix of breeds and mixed breeds. Therefore we wanted to highlight that the market opportunity for the majority of Irish-grown wool when being used in wearable textiles will be blending Irish-grown wool with other lower micron count wool. This has the potential to create a viable new channel for using more Irish-grown wool in this market."

The Deputy can find further information the Irish Grown Wool Council's St Patrick's day campaign on their website.