Dr. David Meredith:

I will respond, first, to some of the specific questions asked.

Senator Maura Hopkins asked what elements of the report by the Commission for the Economic Development of Rural Areas, CEDRA, had been implemented. I will point to three things in that regard. On the governance organisational aspects, while it may not appear important, it is very important that we have an assistant secretary with responsibility for rural affairs. The individual in question is responsible for five programmes which are very important to rural communities. Associated with this unit is a specific person who is working on rural policy. The unit has a professional role in this space on an ongoing basis. Although this initiative will be very much under the radar for most people, it is important in the long term.

On some of the particular recommendations that were implemented, the rural energy generation scheme has been piloted and moved into the second phase. The scheme was close to my heart because I conducted the research on it. As such, it was great to see it being implemented. Other things have also been implemented.

CEDRA has highlighted that many rural towns have been struggling for some time and also notes their importance to rural areas and communities and vice versa. For a time, an interdepartmental working group was engaged in this area, although I understand it has been superseded by the Cabinet committee which has since been formed, but I am open to correction.

The Senator asked about diversification. No additional research has been undertaken recently on that issue.

The Chairman asked about energy production using the farm process. There are a variety of means to produce energy. The Chairman referred to forestry, an area in which I supervised some research. What we see happening is that people are incentivised to begin to engage in forestry and it can make a great deal of economic sense to do so. For example, in many areas it is more profitable to plant trees than to produce beef. For a variety of reasons, however, people do not engage. What we see through the adoption process is that a small group of people initially plant trees. They are followed by others, at which point planting tails off, which means that one has a curve where the level of forestry increases before beginning to decline. This points to two possibilities, the first of which is that the land considered good for forestry has been exhausted, in other words, it has all been planted, while the second is that the population who will consider engaging in forestry has been exhausted and no one else is willing to do so. There are cultural reasons for this, in that many people do not want to plant land with trees as they view land as being for food production. There is also the permanency rule, under which those who engage in forestry must replant forever and the land cannot be reconverted to pasture. People thinking about farm succession do not want to tie the hands of the next generation.

There is also a wider context in forestry. Much of the land that would be considered ideal for forestry is also classified as high nature value farmland, which is of particular importance to EU policy frameworks and sustaining it in terms of the provision of support for biodiversity. There are many demands on land use and some of the land that may be considered ideal for forestry is also being used to produce other things that are of importance to society.

Many members referred to the issues of migration and emigration. This is one of the areas on which I would focus in a research project. The issue is not so much about the people who leave but those who return. We need to have a better understanding of their experiences and the challenges they face when returning to rural communities, in particular, how dual income households have managed this process. There is evidence elsewhere in Europe that it results in enterprise creation because in many instances people who return must create their own jobs. While one partner may be returning to take over a farm or family business, the other will need to create a job for himself or herself. This can have benefits and there is evidence from Scotland to this effect. I would definitely study this issue, specifically the experiences of those returning-----