NDP spending to go ahead as planned

There will be no reduction in Government spending on the National Development Plan, regardless of the economic downturn the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, said yesterday.

Addressing the Institution of Engineers annual conference in Killarney, Mr Ahern said the early years of this century will be remembered as a "decade of infrastructure" as work got underway on upgrading utilities and essential services.

An essential part of the Government's "long term vision" was to make the regions competitive and he wanted to make it clear that public spending of more than £17 billion on infrastructure would be undertaken, regardless of economic outrun, he said. Other elements of the plan would also be delivered as planned.

The Taoiseach said a growth rate of close to 5 per cent would be "perfectly attainable" over the next decade, following from continuing infrastructure investment and he insisted the Government would "not lose sight of that vision in the face of short term economic turbulence".

Mr Seβn Dorgan, chief executive of the Industrial Development Agency, said there were "huge and important changes" in the State's industrial base which was now a "knowledge-based economy".

"We can no longer go to parts of the United States asking for a bit of their business but we can look at Silicon Valley and take the best of their ideas and bring them back home."

Mr Dorgan said the challenge for Ireland's regions was to look at themselves as globally competitive.

However many conference speakers said putting infrastructure in place to ensure development of the regions was "like working with the enemy", according to Mr Brian Moore, chief executive of NTL.

In a paper delivered in his absence, Mr Moore said the expression that would best describe the communications industry's efforts to install modern networks was: "we are surrounded by insurmountable opportunity".

Mr P.J. Rudden, a director of M.C. O'Sullivan who has consulted with local authorities on the drawing up of six of the Republic's regional waste management plans, said "the political system had failed the people of Ireland" in that local councillors had been unable to bring in workable waste management plans.

It was he maintained "absolutely necessary" for the Government to remove power for making waste management strategies from county councillors, the conference was told yesterday.

Mr Rudden said it was necessary to restate the commitment to waste prevention, reuse, recycling and recovery as part of an integrated waste management strategy.

But he insisted a full strategy would include incineration. Currently the state recycles just 9 percent of its waste with about 90 percent going to landfill.

Mr Rudden said recycling at least 40 per cent of Irish household and commercial waste could be achieved within three years, if the necessary resources, which he estimated at about £300 million, were put in place.

But he said "money is needed urgently for a comprehensive public awareness and recycling programme."

Editorial comment: page 15