It is difficult to grasp the billions of pounds being spoken about in the new National Development plan, due to be published in the middle of next month. As always with such documents, the devil is in the detail and in the speed of implementation.
Take the proposals to invest £4.7 billion (€6 billion) in the national road infrastructure. This is a substantial acceleration from the existing pace of investment in the area, but it will only be achievable if the planning process can be speeded up.
The plan summary, now being considered by the social partners, says a special Cabinet committee, chaired by the Taoiseach, will monitor the implementation of key infrastructure projects and consider how blockages can be lifted. They must succeed if the road strategy is not to be held up. The same difficulties face planners in the area of developing social housing, a particular focus of the plan.
However, the plan will take the first step of providing the money and the commitment to these areas in an investment programme which will in itself boost economic growth over the period, as well as laying the foundation for further prosperity.
It is also the first national plan to lay a heavy emphasis on regional development and to set specific regional goals for spending on infrastructure, developing the productive sector and social inclusion.
There has been much debate about how the goal of developing the less developed regions - the Border, midlands and the west (BMW) - can be achieved. The plan appears to attempt to steer a middle road, promising to develop existing regional "gateways", to invest in creating additional gateways - to be identified in a national spatial strategy - and to spread the benefits to "other smaller urban and rural centres".
This strategy will be elaborated in the full text of the plan and in the national spatial strategy. However, the general approach is to invest in improving the infrastructure of the BMW region, try to attract more foreign direct investment to them and strengthen the indigenous sector - including tourism and fisheries. In addition, money will be spent on promoting farm based enterprises and the problem of rural poverty.
The actual amount of cash going to the south and east regions - at £26.8 billion - is greater than the £13.8 billion being spent in the Border, midlands and the west region. But per head of population the investment in the BMW region is £14,333, compared to £10,050 in the rest of the State.
The problem for policymakers is that regional development will not happen quickly. In many parts of the State, the chicken of infrastructural investment will have to come before the egg of additional foreign direct investment. And the appropriate strategy to be adopted remains open to debate.
The focus for the south and east region is, of necessity, different and designed to complement the regional strategy. Substantial investment will go to improving public transport in the Dublin area, including completing the Luas project including the underground section in the inner city and implementing the other recommendations of the Dublin Transportation Initiative.
A major programme aimed at addressing social exclusion will see £5 billion of the £10 billion investment in employment and human resources going to an "employability" programme aimed at areas such as the long-term unemployed, early school leavers and those made redundant. This is a change of focus from the previous programmes, where the bulk of resources went on building up mainstream education and training, though considerable resources will still be applied in this area, particularly aimed at technological areas.
Some £3 billion of the money will come from the EU and a minimum of £1.6 billion from public-private partnerships. We have the money to pay for the rest ourselves - provided growth remains strong.
The question now is whether we can carry it through.
