It is now eighteen months since the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, announced decentralisation plans for 10,000 public servants, the largest such exercise in the history of the State. But not a single job has left overcrowded Dublin. And, as the National Development Plan 2000-2006, rumbles on, we are still waiting for the Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey, to publish details of a spatial strategy that will identify a hierarchy of growth centres for the new millennium.
Such inadequate planning at Government level is reflected in the behaviour of its development agencies. In spite of official policy to discriminate in favour of less developed regions and communities, bodies such as the National Roads Authority are still planning road systems in line with current economic development and projected traffic use. As a result, motorways linking Dublin to Belfast, Galway, Limerick and Cork have been prioritised while national roads to Castlebar, Sligo and the north-west will be upgraded, but not to the same extent, at an estimated saving of £300m. Such an approach effectively reinforces economic trends and does nothing to counter traditional imbalances between the regions. A similar attitude can be found in relation to the provision of high-quality energy supplies and other forms of infrastructure.
The situation is likely to worsen, rather than improve, because of strong inflationary pressures within the construction industry and demands on the Government from the European Commission to reduce the level of public spending under the National Development Plan. Last week, the Dail Public Accounts Committee was told that inflation on major construction projects, such as road building and housing, was running at 12.5 per cent a year. At the same time, an estimated £250m was switched out of capital spending projects during each of the past two years. The outcome will inevitably lead to a further squeezing of structural investment in the underdeveloped regions unless the Government insists on a policy of positive discrimination.
In the same vein, preliminary studies conducted by the spatial planning unit of the Department of the Environment have shown that the population of the Midlands could fall by at least 5,000 to 205,000 within twenty years, if affirmative action is not taken to promote inward investment and improve the infrastructure of the region. The operation of positive discriminatory measures would, according to the study, reverse this trend and increase the population of the region by an estimated 50,000 in the same period. Given the economic and social pull of Dublin as a bloated centre of population, its effect on the Border and Western regions could be even more pronounced, unless countervailing action is taken.
In his Budget of December, 1999, Mr McCreevy announced the decentralisation of 10,000 jobs as a means of reducing commuting and housing pressure in Dublin while spreading State spending and jobs more equitably throughout the regions. But, apart from initiating a competition between rural towns for the location of various Government agencies - and antagonising his coalition partners - the Minister for Finance has failed to deliver. Amid resistance from public-service unions and allegations of an attempted Fianna Fail "smash and grab" on jobs last year, the various projects were put on hold. It is believed the issue was reviewed by a Cabinet sub-committee last week. But, in advance of a general election, it is unlikely that a comprehensive decentralisation plan will be announced. The Government has been strong on talk, weak on action.