The level of investment in the new National Development Plan - £40.6 billion over the next seven years - may sound ambitious, but spending on this scale is urgently needed to develop the State's infrastructure in all its forms. The central goals of the plan are to address the congestion threatening to strangle growth in Dublin, help lay the foundations for growth in the less-developed regions and tackle social exclusion. There will be much debate on the detail, but it is difficult to argue with the overall thrust of the plan. The question, however, is whether it can be carried through efficiently and on time.
The most significant increase in spending is on developing the State's economic and social infrastructure where almost half of the money will be spent. This will fund a major increase in investment in our roads infrastructure, in public transport in Dublin and in social housing, as well as a range of other projects from water treatment to airport development.
In most of these areas, a higher level of investment is long overdue. The need for a greatly improved roads infrastructure is self-evident while the housing crisis has put demands on local authorities for a sharp acceleration in the provision of social housing.
In other areas, the plan will mean a continuation, or slight increase, in overall spending levels, compared to what is being invested at the moment. A high level of investment in employment and human resources will continue, albeit with a greater emphasis on helping to tackle long-term unemployment and social exclusion. The State will also continue to invest in supporting productive investment projects. Grantaid to industry is to fall, but new measures will aim to support research and development and marketing in tourism.
The big issue, as recognised by the Taoiseach and senior ministers at yesterday's launch, is whether the plan can be delivered. The new planning Bill, now before the Oireachtas, aims to tackle some of the potential hold-ups by streamlining the planning process. As IBEC, the business lobby group, said yesterday, it may be necessary to go further and set an end 2000 deadline for securing planning permission for the major road and rail projects. People, of course, have a right to object and some project plans may thus have to be altered but it is crucial that the whole process is expedited.
The Government must also realise that the plan is not the answer to all our economic problems. Supporting policies will be needed through Budgetary measures in the area of childcare and consideration of tax measures to deal with urban congestion and to lower the tax take on lower-paid workers. The Government has also promised a new spatial plan to provide a framework for infrastructure and other investment. This must be a priority.
Finally, there must be a clear and unrelenting focus on securing value for money. As Professor John FitzGerald of the Economic and Social Research Institute writes in today's editions, we must remember that " a bad project is still a bad project." Considerable effort and expertise must go into the detailed planning and assessment of major spending programmes. This State now has an unprecedented opportunity to use the fruits of economic growth to lay the foundation for the future. It will not get a second chance.