Ministers accused of failing to deliver on regional growth

THE National Spatial Strategy launched one year ago to promote regional development has failed to deliver, a leading economist claimed yesterday.

Dr Eoin O'Leary accused the Government of paying lip service to regional development and being more concerned with scoring local political points than having any real strategy to deal with the changing economic climate.

"The strategy has failed to deliver real regional growth because it is a top down policy the Government must give power and responsibility to the regions to develop their own destiny," Dr O'Leary said.

But the Department of the Environment, which is spearheading the strategy, said it was too early to pass judgment on a 20-year plan after one year.

Dr O'Leary is the editor of Irish Regional Development, a book that will be launched by European Parliament president Pat Cox on Friday in University College Cork.

The book gives a critical diagnosis of how the regional policy has failed and must be changed if our prosperity over the next 20 years is not to be jeopardised.

Dr O'Leary said the main problem with the strategy was that it designated too many cities and towns as gateways and hubs for regional development just to keep local ministers happy.

"But the strategy has no real teeth because it is just a plea to Government departments to take it into consideration when developing policy," Dr O'Leary said.

The existing regional authorities must be given statutory power and responsibility for developing their specific regions just like Shannon Development in the mid-west.

And seven regional authorities must become the driving force for development instead of the large number of gateway cities and hub towns designated by the Spatial Strategy, Dr O'Leary said.

Ireland had become too expensive for many of the multinationals that created the Celtic Tiger, and we now needed to attract hi-tech industries that can afford the wages here, he said.Dublin had become too costly to do business in, and the regions needed to grow if Ireland was to retain the position it secured from the Celtic Tiger.

The only way to keep hi-tech industries here was to get them to locate their research and development facilities here, Dr O'Leary said. "This will get the multinationals to lock in with our third-level colleges and allow us become more than a chain in the link of production that can be moved at any time."

Regional development agencies were the best vehicles to drive this growth because of their proximity to the action and their ability to bring all strands together, he said.

The Department of the Environment rejected the claim the strategy has failed just after one year of implementation. "This shows a lack of understanding of the strategy, and we are pressing ahead with its implementation," the department spokesman added.