Investment in roads and railways, as well as high-technology communications, may be made ahead of demand in regions outside Dublin, following the report of the Enterprise Strategy Group.
Describing infrastructure as one of four essential conditions which are "prerequisites" to economic progress, the report recommends the Government develops a strategic investment programme outside of Dublin and ahead of demand.
The report says this investment should be prioritised in the National Spatial Strategy (NSS) gateways and hubs to enable them "to achieve their regional potential".
The Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise Trade and Employment, Ms Harney, told The Irish Times that "what the report is recommending is that in the designated hubs under the National Spatial Strategy, infrastructure comes first in order to make other things happen".
While she cautioned "even in very good times, when we had very high growth in the economy there were always competing interests in terms of infrastructural investments", Ms Harney said there was a case for funds to be redirected to meet the recommendations of the report.
"If the State can release some of the resources it has tied up in some activities - that maybe the private sector can be involved in some of that - then maybe the State can invest in some of the things that are recommended in this report and other areas of infrastructure where obviously private-sector investment would not be forthcoming."
The Tánaiste said she had appointed a senior official in her Department to chair an inter-departmental group that will report on how best to give effect to the recommendations. "At that point an implementation strategy will be put in place", she said.
But she warned that "in relation to the conclusions generally, the Government hasn't signed on for any of this and September is the time when we will be considering the recommendations and their implementation."
Ms Harney added that she hoped the analysis that lies behind the recommendations will be taken seriously by Government "and I believe that in the main it will."
The strategy of making priority investment in infrastructure is similar to that put forward by regional development agencies across the Republic, particularly Shannon Development, which has argued that road and rail links should be developed before the proposed end of the dual stopover status at Shannon Airport.
Similarly the Border Midlands and Western (BMW) regional assembly and the Western Development Commission have emphasised the importance of infrastructural development in the west to achieve a balance in development across the State.
