By any standards it has been a great year for IDA Ireland. The State development agency created 23,000 jobs in companies it supports, just months after it cut its job target for the year to 12,000, and well up on the 17,000-plus created a year earlier.

The agency reduced its target, given a new emphasis on persuading incoming investment to set up in more deprived areas of the Border, Midlands and West region - the inappropriately named BMW.

It need not have worried. While there is some dispute about how successful the IDA was in diverting jobs to the regions, it did succeed in attracting some landmark projects such as Teradyne in Cavan and Cardinal Health in Longford. It also recorded a 12 per cent rise in net new full-time jobs. Even allowing for job losses in more traditional industries, the agency created more than 15,000 jobs.

But all is not sweetness and light. IDA chief executive Sean Dorgan warned that the chances of building on the success of recent years depends on investment in infrastructure, electricity and broadband telecommunications.

As if to reinforce his warning, it emerged this week that many Government departments have failed to spend their full capital allocation in the first year of the National Development Plan. Should we start worrying now?