The Western Development Commission's plan is the latest in a round of reports aimed at influencing expenditure of forthcoming EU structural funds. In arguing for a less "city-led" approach to channelling industrial investment, it mirrors the approach taken by the Council for the West, the lobby group set up following the western bishops' initiative.
Studies making various cases for the EU package and the National Development Plan have already been published by the ESRI, IBEC, Bord Iascaigh Mhara and the eight regional authorities. All were commissioned before the £3.4 billion package was agreed between Brussels and the Government and before final confirmation of the two-region designation which allows the 13 western, Border and midland counties to retain full Objective 1 status.
All the reports have been, or are about to be, submitted to the Department of Finance in an effort to influence the next national development plan.
The ESRI report, National Investment Priorities 2000-2006, published last month, did not make specific provision for the level of EU funding agreed in Berlin. Also, the EU funds comprise only a small percentage of the £50 billion in spending it has recommended. It is seeking an increase in spending on physical infrastructure projects, from £1.96 billion this year to £2.26 billion each year, on average, between 2000 and 2006.
IBEC, the employers' body, identified a £14 billion "infra structural deficit" as the priority in its submission to the Government last year. It said that all Cohesion Funds and 60 per cent of European Regional Development Funds should be devoted to spending on infrastructure. Another 30 per cent of ERDF money should be spent on measures designed to improve competitiveness, it said.
BIM, the sea fisheries development board, has argued that a doubling of annual EU and State expenditure on the marine sector would yield a 20 per cent increase in jobs over the next seven years in the most peripheral regions.
The BIM study, published in early March, notes that the marine sector currently receives only 1 per cent of EU structural funds, and yet is still giving a better return pro rata than investment in agriculture. The annual EU/State spend per farm worker is currently £14,500 - or £25,000 if trade transfers are added - compared with £1,500 annually per employee in fisheries and aquaculture.
The plan earmarks nine development programmes for the coastal regions, hinging on £154 million in EU investment support. The marine industry is currently worth more than £300 million annually in sales, employs some 16,000 people directly, and provides a livelihood for 60,000 people if families are taken into account.
It has been welcomed by the Council for the West and by fishing industry representatives, including Mr Joey Murrin, chief executive of the Killybegs Fishermen's Organisation.
The eight regional authorities commissioned two plans from Fitzpatrick and Associates, economic consultants, one for BMW or Border, midlands and western region, which hoped to retain full Objective 1 status, and one for the eastern and southern region. The drafts of both were presented to the authority representatives last month for revision before final submission.
The BMW plan is based on 15, rather than 13 counties, retaining Objective 1 funding, given that both Clare and Kerry were part of the Government's initial strategy. It outlines an £8.4 billion strategy until 2006, designed to close the economic gap between east and west, and emphasises the need to develop regional urban centres to attract inward investment, with Sligo and Athlone targeted as cities on the Galway model.
It proposes increased investment in road, rail and telecommunications, and suggests that a network of business and enterprise centres be established in smaller towns to provide a "soft support" for local initiatives.