Bid to use wool for insulation is rejected by Limerick Council

LIMERICK City and County Council has rejected a bid from councillors to use wool produced from sheep for house, business and commercial insulation.

At this month’s council meeting, members of the Cappamore-Kilmallock municipal district put forward a notice of motion calling on the local authority to take advantage of the current low price of the material in a bid to support farmers who are struggling financially.

Hospital councillor Gerald Mitchell, Fine Gael, said: “The [cost of] raw materials in building have doubled, so this will sustain the rural economy and farming. When the country is going well, the farmers are doing well. This is organic wool and from what I gather, exports of sheep to Europe on the increase.”

Advance payments of €16million issued to almost 20,000 farmers in Sheep Welfare Scheme

His area colleague, Cllr Mike Donegan seconded the ​motion.

He said: “Insulation is one of the most important steps in terms of conservation. Wool is 100% natural material making it safer for the environment, homeowners and installers.”

Green councillor Sean Hartigan – who farms sheep in his​ spare time – also spoke to back the motion.

However, a written response from the council’s housing construction and maintenance team ruled the idea out.

“As part of construction works, tender documents are issued which describe works to be completed. A specification document will describe the requirement for building materials. To comply with public procurement, it is not permitted to specify a particular product by name,” the local authority stated.

It’s likely wool prices will remain at the 2020 lows for the foreseeable future.

Last year, the low was hit, with the poor-quality scotch wool in some cases being worthless, and the best-quality wool worth just 20 cent per kilogram.