As the Minister reconvenes his beef activation group, he will be faced with a number of dilemmas.

The first is to decide on the size of the national suckler herd. The second is what use he wants to see made of the disadvantaged areas for agricultural production. Over the last 30 years, the suckler herd has varied from 400,000 to over one million.

The present Government’s overriding national priority is the provision of jobs. Employment is rightly centre stage, but the subtext is not so clearly spelled out.

It has been very noticeable that the vast bulk of new jobs are in the major urban centres, especially Dublin, Cork and Galway. Rents, mainly in Dublin, are increasing rapidly and the unspoken change in Government policy is that while we want investors to invest in Ireland, most of them wish to invest in a major urban area where there are good educational and entertainment facilities, as well as a high level of general services.

With an excellent main road network, possible commuter distances have increased, but the bottom line is that the rest of the country is increasingly being seen as having a future dependent on farming and tourism.

Obviously, the major county towns have a network of health and local government agencies, but with regard to economic activity and innovation, it’s agriculture and the tourists.

The new Glanbia plant in Belview, Dairygold in Mitchelstown, Dairymaster in Causeway, Aurivo in Ballaghaderreen, Lakeland in Bailieboro, Dawn in Ballyhaunis – the list goes on. All are farm based, but what is noticeable is that the amount of new industrial investment in these non-metropolitan locations is almost zero – despite the theoretical possibility of working from home with modern internet.

The two State bodies in charge of helping foreign and domestic companies, the IDA and Enterprise Ireland, spend about €500m a year directly helping firms to invest in the interests of national wealth and job creation.

The Single Farm Payment is about two and a half times that at €1.2bn, spread over 120,000 farm families.

This is, in effect, a direct reflection of what it costs Irish and European producers to produce food at European costs, while coping with Europe-imposed environmental conditions.

If Government and the agri-processing industry cannot agree a framework that allows production to continue in rural areas, then we will see a continuing rundown of the kind highlighted in Teagasc’s Rural Towns report last week. We cannot expect miracles, but some degree of accountability and a more long-term commitment to supplier profitability will have to feature in the coming discussions. There are several possibilities – we await the Ministerial agenda with interest.