The Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Mr Ó Cuív, is commissioning a new strategy on western development which aims to stem the economic gap between the regions.
The Minister will ask the Western Development Commission (WDC) to draw up the strategy, when he marks the publication of the WDC's annual report in Co Sligo today.
The strategy will involve identifying towns which are suitable for decentralised government departments.
It will also involve co-ordinating the planning policies of local authorities in the seven counties which the WDC represents - counties Donegal, Sligo, Mayo, Galway, Clare, Leitrim and Roscommon.
The case for developing the western rail corridor and promoting commuter rail services and radial transport routes between smaller towns and larger urban areas will be central to the plan, which is expected to be finalised by the end of this year.
It is understood that Minister Ó Cuív has the full support of the Tánaiste and Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms Harney, and the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, for the initiative.
The study will focus on smaller towns which were not designated as "gateways" or "hubs" in the National Spatial Strategy (NSS).
These smaller towns, such as Foxford, Kiltimagh and Charlestown, Co Mayo, may require improved links to other urban areas if population levels are to be maintained.
Towns that are accessible by public transport to Dublin, and are also close to third-level education centres, may be identified as being suitable for decentralisation under the plan.
The Minister's decision to ask the WDC to draw it up gives a new lease of life to the State agency which had been under threat of abolition - partly due to its outspoken stance on the Government's handling of the National Development Plan.
The commission's western investment fund budget was cut to less than a third of its allocation last year, and Minister Ó Cuív ordered a review of its future.
Two years ago, in July 2001, the WDC's State of the West report said that the NDP was not fulfilling its stated aim of reducing economic disparity between east and west and claimed that the imbalance was actually growing.
The WDC attributed this not just to inadequate spending, but to a combination of factors, including a centralised government "mindset" and the adverse impact of deregulation on the power and telecommunications markets in the western region.
Last week, the commission highlighted once again the growing economic gap between east and west when it accused the Government of underspending €644 million, or 41 per cent of the allocated budget, in the Border, Midland and Western (BMW) region during the first three years of the National Development Plan.
This was corroborated by the BMW Assembly, which oversees for the Department of Finance the allocation of funds under the BMW operational programme. This programme provides funding for local infrastructure, local enterprise, agriculture and rural development, social inclusion and childcare.
The WDC said that although €1,570 million was budgeted for during the first three years, only €926 million of this was spent. It said the region had not benefited as much as expected in the first three years of the National Development Plan as a result.