STORY OF THE WEEK: Fianna Fáil's return to power and its likely partnership with the Progressive Democrats has intensified expectation that the new government will renew efforts to solve the transport crisis.

Health aside, no other matter better fits the "more to do" element in the slogan that accompanied pictures of Mr Bertie Ahern on thousands of election posters.

After the public finances and health, this is the ground on which the success of Mr Ahern's new government will measured if it goes the distance until 2007. In addition, it will have a significant bearing on the State's competitiveness and economic potential as the boom calms down and, indeed, on the quality of life.

There will be plenty of photo opportunities if introduction of the Luas light-rail system at the end of 2003 is successful. Otherwise, however, it is a portfolio that will demand hard work and an ability to deliver significant amounts of State funding as the public finances tighten.

Both Mr Ahern and PD leader Ms Mary Harney have already identified transport in their election manifestos, with the Taoiseach placing special emphasis on the subject in his address to the Fianna Fáil árdfheis in March.

Since then, it is thought that tentative preparations have been made to incorporate all transport functions in State control into a specific Department of Transport and Infrastructure.

While Aer Lingus is still effectively for sale, it is thought that concentration will be on the effective management of the transport and road system. With Government having rejected a proposal to part-float Aer Rianta, it is likely that efforts to sell State companies will concentrate on the energy firms, the ESB and Bord Gáis.

According to several informed figures, a Department of Transport and Infrastructure will be formed on the bones of the Department of Public Enterprise, whose electricity and gas functions are likely to be transferred elsewhere.

The new Department is considered likely to oversee the road elements of the National Development Plan (NDP) and, possibly, the State ports. While there is uncertainty about the telecommunications functions in the Department, it is safe to assume that the focus will remain fixed on transport.

There has been speculation that Ms Harney may favour the portfolio in the shake-out of Cabinet posts that will occur if the PDs and Fianna Fáil reach agreement on a programme for Government. The post would be seen as one of the most complex - and thankless - jobs in Government, though some observers suggest that a Fianna Fáil figure, perhaps based in Dublin, may yet be chosen.

Either way, the challenges will be stark. In addition to Aer Lingus and Aer Rianta, the portfolio will encompass perhaps the most difficult semi-State entity, CIÉ.

With volatile industrial relations and a huge requirement for State funding, the rail and bus companies require close scrutiny. Even where funding is released, the unfinished signalling inquiry last year revealed serious project management lapses as the cost of a single project spiralled to €63.48 million from €17.78 million.

Additional difficulty will be presented by the national roads programme, which is designed to deliver in excess of 1,300 kilometres by 2007. Some 200 kilometres are under active construction at the moment, suggesting that progress will be incremental.

In the first two years of the NDP, 123 kilometres were built as construction cost inflation rose 15 per cent in 2001 and 10 per cent in 2000. Inflation in the order of 5 per cent is expected this year.

As a reminder of seemingly interminable difficulties at the semi-States, Aer Lingus pilots this week threatened to ground the airline next Thursday in a dispute over work practices.

With the carrier still not out of the woods after its near-collapse last autumn, this development could be a portent of further trouble down the line. It raises questions about the viability of a trade sale, a strategy adopted by Government last December.

A change in the Civil Service structure governing the airline or any other semi-State is unlikely to ease industrial tension.

But with roads and public transport services stretched to breaking point during the boom, the idea behind a unified Department is to foster a more integrated approach to the problem by government.

In theory at least, this means for example that the development of the national railway would be considered at the same time as the road structure in a particular area. It also means that the Minister will fight at the Cabinet for a single tranche of Budget funding to cover all areas in the transport portfolio.

Well and good if this lends administrative clarity to an area that swallows many billions of euro every year. The logic is clear, although one informed figure said "the basic building blocks will still be the same" in the new structure.

For that, however, deficiencies in the system as matters stand are already well-documented. In a report last year, the National Competitiveness Council said: "Inadequacies both in the road system and in the provision of public transport are undermining competitiveness in costs, decreased labour market mobility and house-price inflation."

Crucially, the council added: "The medium-term growth of the economy is dependent on the delivery of the general programme of capital expenditure set out in the National Development Plan, particularly national roads and public transport."

The perceived wisdom suggests that the relative spending on roads and public transport might be better balanced under a single minister. Yet certain senior observers are unclear about the direct benefits of separating the National Roads Authority from the Department of the Environment and Local Government, which manages the planning process.

If election promises are worth anything, Fianna Fáil and the PDs cannot be seen not to act on their commitment to transport. However, as the outgoing Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke, knows only too well, it is a portfolio littered with land-mines and potential crises almost at every turn. There's always more to do, as it were.