The cost of halting the increasing economic gap between the east and west has been put at more than £1 billion by the Western Development Commission.
After the first meeting of the commission since it became a statutory agency on February 1st, its chief executive, Mr Liam Scollan, said that by the end of March, a comprehensive plan for the seven counties from Clare to Donegal would be presented to the Government.
"It is the first time this has been done. It will literally put a price tag on what is needed across all sectors," he said. Rather than presenting a "wish-list", the plan will list priority projects which should be completed under the next round of EU Structural Funds. The commission expects to have the plan agreed with the Government by the end of the year.
Mr Scollan said he was confident of getting a fair hearing from the Government and there had been "an enthusiasm" for the priorities identified.
He said the plan would provide a more clearly defined strategy to create jobs and attract inward investment, and the aim was to achieve more balanced development within the Republic and within the west. "There is no point in having an over-expanding Galway and a contracting rural hinterland," he added.
If such an approach were not taken, Mr Scollan said the gap between east and west would continue to grow. Large parts of rural Ireland would be left without jobs and without people of working age, with the knock-on effect of reduced services. "Our report will show that this trend could increase," he said.
By the end of the year, the Western Development Commission would have created "a seachange in 10 areas of national policy affecting the west, ranging from foreign investment, housing, food industry, telecommunications and rural tourism".
The Minister of State for rural development, Mr Noel Davern, who attended the inaugural meeting, said a liaison network of senior officials from Government departments was being set up to work with the commission and to "co-ordinate and focus policy and expenditure programmes". This would enable the commission "to influence activities and policies pursued" in the seven counties.
A forum of western ministers met only once last year, but Mr Scollan said the commission hoped to meet the ministers every two months in the future and that they would be "the champions of western development within the Cabinet".
A western investment fund of £25 million, which is to be managed by the Western Development Commission, has also been set up with the aim of stimulating investment and enterprise. Mr Scollan said that by the end of the year, the fund would have made up to 18 long-term investments in local and regional projects.
The chairman of the commission, Mr Sean Tighe, said extraordinary measures were required to ensure the region realised its full economic and social potential. Exchequer funding would also have to be increased and there needed to be greater focus on jobcreation in the region on the part of the IDA and Enterprise Ireland.
The 11 other board members are: Councillor Mary Bohan (Leitrim), Mr Sean Hannick (Mayo), Mr Maurice Harvey (Clare), Ms Janet Hughes (Galway), Mr Mala chy King (Galway), Sister Maureen Lally (Mayo), Ms Lisa McAllister (Sligo), Mr Pat McGarry (Roscommon), Mr Michael Mc Loone (Donegal), Councillor Peadar O Tuathaill (Galway) and Mr Frank O'Donnell (Department of Agriculture and Food).