Eoin Hayes (Dublin Bay South, Social Democrats)

I thank the witnesses for coming in and for their presentations and input. It is a critically important issue for the country. We are struggling with how to reinvigorate rural Ireland. We all see it. I am a Dublin-based TD but I have a lot of family and friends in rural Ireland. I travel there quite often. We see it in every town and village: the dereliction, the lack of economic development and the struggles that rural people often have, whether it is getting planning permission for housing or finding a job and being able to work remotely.

Regarding the points Dr. Ó Caoimh made on sustainability and rural Ireland, I am struck by the fact that farmers are often the stewards of our rural environment and nature. From my exposure to farming communities, I know people are doing really important environmental work and it needs to be lauded and supported. I want to acknowledge that.

Dr. Ó Caoimh presented some interesting questions in terms of the mapping of funding in rural areas. There is an interesting question around the geographical spread of wider economic development. When you think about the multinationals putting FDI in rural communities, CAP and where that is going, as well as the rural funds, how does he propose we monitor that properly and understand where the money is going?

Dr. Ó Caoimh also made a great point on how local action groups are demarcated by county. I am partial to his view on modernising our public administration and not necessarily being stuck in the 16th and the 17th centuries and with the British demarcations. I am interested in understanding what the alternative is. Is it provincial or more granular? How do we think about that demarcation? We are going to have to draw boundaries in some way in terms of public administration. I am interested to hear what the alternatives are.

Dr. Ó Caoimh's perspective on rail services is well taken as well. I am struck by the fact that in 1840 we had rail services all across the country going into small rural towns and now we have very few. That needs to be revitalised for people to be connected.

To Mr. Kehoe and Ms Earley, the wider question I come back to quite a lot is following the money. It is extremely concerning to hear that LEADER has halved in 12 years. There are threats to the CAP at the European level and where it is going to go in Ireland.

Thinking about it at a wider level, I grew up in a rural community in America for about half my childhood. Back in the 1800s it was a big lumber town. There was a row of houses and it was called millionaires' row because that was where all the millionaires lived. Fast forward to today, there is no lumber, no industry - nothing. The town is dependent on mostly public institutions such as hospital services and colleges to provide employment.

That question of economic power and how that gets realised in rural areas and changes over time is an important question for us to deal and grapple with as a country. That can be seen in places like Westport. It has AbbVie and hundreds of high-paying jobs which has created a huge economic powerhouse in the far west. This can also be seen in Canada and the natural oil resources they had in rural areas. I am conscious of how we think about that economic development question and where the money is being invested. How do we make sure it is being done in a way that is balanced in those communities?

I am also struck by the point about the consolidation of funding and the duplication of services. What should that look like in terms of the consolidation of funding? What should we be doing better? What should we be asking the Department to do to provide that in a more targeted way that does not result in lots of different funds going into the ether?