Key recommendations in the State of the West report would ensure "more ownership and transparency in top-level decision-making", according to the chief executive of the Western Development Commission, Mr Liam Scollan.
The recommendations are designed to focus the minds of dedicated groups of civil servants on the main issues, he said.
The report recommends the establishment of two high-level working groups to deal with road infrastructure and power/telecommunications. Both groups should be set up by September, produce an interim report by December and report their findings together with a costed development schedule by February 2002.
A Western Region Roads Infrastructure Consultative Group, it says, is needed because of the critical importance of road access. The report states that while a number of major inter-urban roads are earmarked for development in the National Development Plan, other primary routes, such as the N2 and the N5, need major upgrading. The N5 is the main route east for Cos Roscommon and Mayo.
"Businesses in the region are constantly pointing out the cost to them of the inadequate road quality, especially the N5," the report says. There is ample evidence that it is a major deterrent to investment, it adds.
The working group should be chaired by a senior official on the National Roads Authority and comprise officials of the NRA, Department of Environment, Forfas, Western Development Commission and local authorities.
After deciding how much additional investment is needed, the group should identify "key priorities based on a clear development rationale, rather than only on existing traffic flows".
The second recommendation is for a high-level strategic working group on power and telecommunications. It should be chaired by an official at assistant secretary level in the Department of Public Enterprise, and members would be drawn from all the relevant Government Departments and statutory bodies.
This group would develop an appropriate strategy for the roll-out of power and telecommunication infrastructure in the western region. It would consider ways to ensure roll-out is extended beyond the commercially viable areas, ensure co-ordination on digging and ducting between different operators and develop proposals on how best to deploy NDP funding for telecoms.
The report also makes other recommendations on infrastructure. It calls for one or two smaller power plants to be built by the private sector and using gas from the Corrib field. It says two locations should be studied, Galway and Bellacorrick.
The Ballina-Sligo gas pipeline should facilitate future links to Donegal and Northern Ireland. Galway and Sligo pipelines should allow "maximum feasible access" to nearby towns and in particular to Knock Airport.
The report calls for the development of a Western Rail Corridor from Sligo to Limerick, saying there should be "serious investigation of its feasibility".
It also calls for the upgrading of roads to Knock and Shannon Airports. These two airports should be prioritised for international access. "Significant public resources" should be allocated for the development of business parks and facilities at Knock Airport.
The report's third key recommendation is for an Invest in the West programme to help towns become more "investment-ready". Larger towns should be encouraged to form partnerships, and relevant State agencies should develop joint strategies for these towns. They should support collaboration between third-level institutions on both sides of the Border for a Knowledge Centre for the north-west.