Infrastructure gap analysis for Ireland

Abstract

Ireland has gone through a radical transformation from the Celtic Tiger years to the IMF–EU bail-out of 2010. This paper presents evidence of the priority infrastructural gaps that will inhibit economic growth, based on interviews with a broad spectrum of key stake holders. The paper explores the factors for industry locating within a region and highlights the issues associated with national, regional and local planning, and how these can potentially inhibit or aid industrial development within a region and thus the region's growth. This paper demonstrates serious short-comings in the broadband connectivity to all areas outside Dublin and the need for the basic requirement of water quality and capacity to be urgently addressed. It reinforces the need for investment in Ireland's physical infrastructure to be aligned with a long-term strategy and vision, with infrastructural investment decisions based on a holistic, numbers-based evaluation methodology.