Tom Parlon (Laois-Offaly, Progressive Democrats)

I welcome the opportunity to address the House this afternoon on the mid-term evaluation of the national development plan published by the ESRI last week. Before commenting on the ESRI evaluation, I feel it would be useful to recall the objectives and content of the NDP.

When the plan was launched in November 1999 there was almost universal support for its objectives and strategies. The exhaustive analytical and consultative process, which was conducted by the Government and preceded the preparation of the plan, revealed a strong consensus on the key sectoral issues to be tackled and on the measures necessary to deal with these.

The NDP, as published, set out the following overriding objectives for investment: continuing sustainable national, economic and employment growth; consolidating and improving Ireland's international competitiveness; fostering balanced regional development; and promoting social inclusion. Consistent with these overall objectives, the plan provided for a most ambitious and unprecedented level of investment of almost €52 billion at 1999 prices across all sectoral areas pertaining to the economic and social development of the country. Key elements of the investment strategy were the continuation of stability-orientated macro-economic policies; a major investment programme in economic and social infrastructure; the promotion of education and employment training policies attuned to the needs of the labour market with a special focus on those most at risk of unemployment; and greatly accelerated investment programmes in key areas such as research and development and the provision of child care facilities.

Of the €52 billion provided, nearly €46 billion was from domestic sources, mainly the Exchequer. This included a massive acceleration in Exchequer investment in economic and social infrastructure. The EU contribution of almost €6 billion represented just 12% of the total funding of the plan, compared to 40% for the 1994-99 plan. A target of €2.5 billion was included for the public private partnership contribution to the funding of the infrastructure programme.