Comment: Cork, Limerick and Galway combined could be a counterweight to Dublin writes Gerald Purcell.

The rapid transformation of the Irish economy and Irish society in recent years has continued to reinforce traditional regional imbalances. While the main urban centres, particularly Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford have experienced significant growth, the Dublin region has outpaced the rest of the country in terms of growth, inward investment, employment and population.

Among the consequences of unbalanced regional development are congestion and pressure on public services in the Dublin region and the mushrooming of Dublin suburbs in towns and villages across Leinster.

This imbalance in development increases the demand for public spending on infrastructure for these new communities and has a serious negative impact on quality of life, particularly for families where parents are obliged to commute long distances.

Unfortunately, Government spending programmes in recent years have exacerbated the situation. There has been a concentration on big infrastructural projects in the Dublin area specifically and in the eastern half of the country generally.

In contrast, there has been an underspend in the western half of the country. The National Spatial Strategy (NSS) is supposed to address regional imbalances but there is little indication that it is being implemented in a meaningful way.

There is an urgent need for a national political census on the need for balanced regional development. The Government should take on board new ideas coming from businesses, community and academic leaders in regional centres. The time is now right to take the concept of a western economic corridor and turn it into a reality.

Cork, Limerick and Galway on their own do not have the capacity to be genuine competitors to Dublin. However, their combined populations and that of their satellite towns, their excellent universities and institutes of technology, their current levels of industrial, technological and commercial development together have the capacity to be a serious counterweight to Dublin. Integrating their infrastructure, their development and their populations would provide critical mass for a quantum leap in future growth and development.

Developing a western economic corridor will demand a high level of political commitment and a high level of capital investment over a 20-25-year period. The necessary infrastructure will include a motorway linking the three cities, the completion of the Limerick/Southern Cross route and a new Shannon Crossing.

An outer ring road around Galway and the development of the N17 from Galway to Milltown to motorway standards will also be required.

A fast and frequent rail service linking the three cities with a rail link to Shannon Airport will also be necessary. Commuter rail services into each of the three cities from their satellite towns using the existing rail network should be developed.

The phased re-opening of the western rail corridor should be part of the strategy. Further investment in Limerick Port and its full integration into the rail and road network must also be included in future development plans.

A competitive, secure and varied energy market and a communications network of the highest international standard will also be required to attract mobile international investment to a western economic corridor. And of course, fundamental to future development will be effective planning guidelines at local and regional level. In addition to productive infrastructure a high level of investment will also be required in basic services, water, sewerage and waste disposal. A coherent approach to the development of a western economic corridor must also include the provision of quality social infrastructure to meet the demands of a rising population.

As part of its commitment to developing a western economic corridor, the Government should use its proposed decentralised programme to advance the project.

Some national flagship projects should also be located along the corridor. With its international airport and its existing hotel infrastructure, the Limerick region would be an ideal location for a national convention centre. Likewise, Galway would be suitable for the proposed national centre for science and technology.

If the necessary investment is guaranteed, the combination of huge human and technological potential in the region which has never been tapped to its fullest will allow the western economic corridor to become a key economic region in its own right; one that can compete effectively on the global stage for inward investment plus adding to Ireland's overall growth.

In this way, the development of a western economic corridor will add value to the country's long term viability.

Gerald Purcell is president of the Construction Industry Federation