‘Flawed decentralisation policy could be used to fund road infrastructure’

DUBLIN Chamber of Commerce has criticised the Government’s decentralisation policy as flawed and a waste of money that could be put to better use.

In its pre-Budget submission it has asked the Government to reconsider its goal of decentralisation and plough the €1 billion capital spending programme by the Office of Public Works into the primary roads programme and strategic non-national roads instead.

Increased spending on the infrastructure deficit would do more for the economy at this point than any other form of investment, it said.

On that basis, it was essential the public capital programme put the improvement of roads at the top of the national agenda, said Dublin Chamber chief executive Gina Quin.

“Early completion of the inter-urban motorway network by the National Roads Authority would provide a greater stimulus to regional development across the country than the protracted and flawed decentralisation process,” she said.

“Government should redirect the capital expenditure allocated to buildings around the country as part of the decentralisation process and use this money to accelerate the completion of the primary roads programme and strategic non-national roads.”

Dublin Chamber also said the NRA has sufficient capability and a clear line up of projects to speed up the 10-year national programme outlined in Transport 21 and deliver it by 2012, three years earlier than planned.

Ms Quin also took exception to the 2006 Budget for its failure to boost the standard of non-national roads which was “grossly inadequate”.

The chamber said a further €150m was required to address that deficit. It further said the R&D EU target of spending 3% of GDP per year by 2010 should be adopted here.