ESRI warns Government on development plan spending

THE Government should not spend excessively on the next National Development Plan, the country’s major economic think-tank warned yesterday.

The Economic and Social Research Institute [ESRI] said the existing NDP, which expires at the end of this year, had achieved poor value for money.

Dr Edgar Morgenroth of the ESRI said Finance Minister Brian Cowen should exercise caution when deciding on funding for its successor, which will run from 2007 to 2013.