Additional jobs may actually be negative, as additional employment may cause congestion problems, which implies a cost on others Perhaps the Irish economy is like a child's bicycle, and those IDA Ireland grants are the metal stabiliser wheels, attached to each side. It took quite a while for the kid to learn how to cycle, and without those stabilisers there would have been a lot more tears.

But now, just look at that kid go! Zipping around, cycling with speed and confidence, some would say even with style. Do we need the stabilisers at all?

It emerged this week that a key evaluation group, funded by the Department of Finance and the European Union, had suggested we might not. In its examination of the Government's €52 billion National Development Plan, the Community Support Framework (CSF) evaluation unit said it had serious doubts about the need to subsidise job creation.

"We question the focus on job creation, given that the economy is approaching full employment," its report says. "Our overall conclusion is that we are not convinced that the overall level of investment proposed for the productive sector is warranted."

Often, it adds, the value to society of an additional job is minimal; in some locations, such as Dublin, the value of an additional job "may actually be negative, as additional employment may cause congestion problems, which implies a cost on others".

The CSF also says State agencies should spend far less on seed and venture capital: "We would question the level of resources allocated to this area, given the much improved external environment facing the indigenous sector."

It also criticises training programmes for employees, arguing that any benefits from these "accrue either to the employees and/ or the firms concerned and should be reflected in increased wages or profits".

"At some stage - such as at present when the economic environment facing the sector is favourable and profitability is very high - the State can withdraw from this type of activity," the CSF says.

Bolstering the argument for the abolition of the IDA is the fact that just 125,000 people work in IDA-backed companies - less than 9 per cent of the workforce.

But is the CSF guilty of lofty arrogance? It makes clear in the report that it is aware that certain areas of the State have stubbornly high unemployment, but does not argue that job subsidies should be stepped up there to raise the living standards of those citizens.

And its comments about extra workers causing congestion could be construed as the complaint of the comfortable, an economic paraphrasing of Jean-Paul Sartre's "hell is other people", in this case other people, in their cars, blocking up the roads for the people who were there first.

And what of the report's concern that individuals and their companies benefit too much from some training programmes? Is this an subliminal exhortation to those already on the roof to pull away the ladder? Many would argue that it is a good thing for citizens and business to benefit from the use of their own taxes.

For their part, IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland are not used to hearing their methods criticised so robustly, and they could easily argue that their work has helped generate huge economic rewards for the State - and if they are not broken, why fix them?

In fact, both organisations have begun fundamental changes in how they approach their tasks. On the east coast especially, the focus has shifted from subsidising employment to upgrading the skills of workers and making the operations carried out by foreign companies here more crucial and valuable to its overall business.

Presenting its figures for 1999 this week, the IDA's chief executive, Mr Sean Dorgan, said that although the agency helped create a record 17,590 jobs last year, its would measure future success by job quality and regional spread, rather than numbers alone.

Behind the headline figures, however, it emerged that the Border, midlands and west regions are moving backwards, with net job losses of more than 1,200 in IDA-backed firms.

The IDA said the unevenness of job creation across the State was a cause of great concern, adding that it required radical action and speedy construction of roads, airports and other facilities.

Mr Dorgan said that from now on, there would be little or nothing in the way of grants for foreign companies wishing to operate in Dublin, with more resources concentrated on poorer areas.

But he made it clear that the agency does not intend to ignore the east coast and the south, where employment levels are higher.

The IDA has shifted to a policy of quiet support for the Irish management of foreign companies. A special team of IDA executives is now tasked with turning "boy scouts", or obedient local managers, into "subversives", or savvy corporate politicians arguing the Irish case from the inside.

"We want to see capable companies moving systemically up the value chain, from being basically mandated, subsidiary operations to being strategically independent operations within their corporate structures worldwide," Mr Dorgan said. "This means the Irish operations gradually taking on new roles and adding more value by increasing the skills' levels of their managers and employees - essentially taking initiatives at local level to improve their own future."

Perhaps an example of this strategy can be seen very close to home - in how the IDA itself has developed its relationship with the Government.