Labour has proposed a £20 billion development plan which it says would properly connect regions to each other and reduce the predominance of Dublin over the rest of the island.
A party document, "Visions of Ireland - Towards a National Spatial Plan", proposes designating clusters of towns around the State for growth, and providing them with transport links, housing, energy supplies and modern technological capabilities.
The proposal differs from the more commonly debated spatial planning concept of designating a number of towns to be developed into cities.
"The conventional idea is that one third of the population is in Dublin, and that we must therefore develop other cities," said the Labour leader, Mr Ruairi Quinn.
"Our view is there are already towns around the State with enormous strength that have not been able to develop because they are not connected." Labour therefore had identified clusters of existing towns to be developed coherently, he said.
Such a plan, to be implemented between now and 2015, is vital if the £48 billion National Development Plan is to be implemented, he said. Attempting to implement it without a spatial strategy was "like putting the builders on the site before the drawings are ready."
The key objectives of the plan are to link towns in the north west and west better with the east coast and with each other, to develop the Dublin/ Belfast corridor, and to make it easier to get around Dublin and its adjoining counties.
He said the Labour proposal was the first to take an all-island approach. The party has identified several clusters of towns straddling the Border as areas for development. These include Sligo/Enniskillen, Letterkenny/ Derry/Dungiven, and Navan/ Drogheda/Dundalk/Newry/ Craigavon.
The document proposes a ban on new developments within a mile of the coastline all around the island, as well as the prevention of damaging developments in areas designated as being of national significance.
The existing 2,000 kilometres of rail network would be extended by 300km, with 865km of existing routes being electrified. The party proposes new or improved regional airports at Kilkenny, Athlone and Enniskillen as well as new or expanded seaports.
Mr Quinn said that planning in Ireland in the past had been dictated by short-term crisis rather than long-term needs. "For too long we have seen the east of the country develop in an ad-hoc and uncontrolled way at the expense of the west. Ultimately, it has been to the detriment of both."
The Labour plan was ambitious but affordable, he said.
"This Government has been prepared to sit on our economic wealth rather than using it to create a better and more united society." While the Government had promised to produce a national spatial plan, it was so far 12 months behind its own deadline, he added.
The party's environment spokesman, Mr Eamon Gilmore, said the plan would "provide Ireland with a modern, efficient infrastructure to underpin continued economic prosperity, while protecting our environment."