The Minister for Finance has given the clearest signal yet that the Government will put infrastructural investment ahead of public spending increases in the coming Budget.

Mr McCreevy told an awards ceremony in Dublin last night that the state of the public finances "calls for selfless choices between present and future consumption - based on the reality that failure to invest sufficiently now will mean less economic growth, less revenue and less capacity to build public services in the future".

Mr McCreevy's remarks indicate that the Government is leaning towards the views of the Department of Finance.

In its recently published mid-year Economic Review and Outlook, the Department made it clear that the Government has to choose between investing in infrastructure or maintaining spending on public services at current levels.

The Department also made it clear it saw the first option as the preferred choice.

However, Mr McCreevy tempered his comments with reference to the possibility of a pick-up in the economy.

"Provided we remain competitive and manage our affairs prudently, I am convinced that the Irish economy has the potential for stronger, sustainable economic growth over the medium term," he said.

Mr McCreevy was speaking at the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards. The winner of the 2002 award was Mr Padraig Ó Céidigh, managing director of Aer Arann Express. He won the award for developing Aer Arann from a service providing flights to the Aran Islands in Galway Bay into a regional carrier serving Ireland and Britain.

Mr Andrew Jones, the managing director of Clearstream Technologies, was named Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year.Mr Brian McCarthy of Kilorglan, Co Kerry-based Fexco won the International Services Entrepreneur of the Year award. Fexco provides bureau de change services and also a VAT refund service.