The proposed Dublin-Waterford motorway or dual carriageway will be built without delay, the Tánaiste, Ms Harney, has promised. The N9, linking the capital to the south-east, is one of six major corridors identified for upgrading to motorway standard in the National Development Plan.
Concerns that the plan, and particularly the road-building programme, would not proceed on schedule has caused anxiety in Waterford where the need for improved road access is acute.
However, on a visit to the city last week where she was presented with a task force plan on Waterford's economic future, Ms Harney said the upgrading of the N9 would not happen overnight. "But it will happen on target and on time, and the resources will be provided."
The need for improved road and rail access is one of the issues addressed in the task force report, prepared by the Strategy Waterford group, which Ms Harney established last year to examine why the city failed to capitalise fully on the ecomomic boom. It was also asked to propose steps to improve Waterford's economic performance.
Much of the report, titled Vision 2001 - Linking Waterford and its Partners, emphasises the need for Waterford and other centres in the south east to co-operate to mutual benefit. It proposes the creation of an economic zone including Clonmel, Dungarvan, Kilkenny, Tramore and Wexford, which has a population of 117,000. This is expected to grow to 300,000 by 2011.
A series of measures, including upgrading of roads, rail and telecommunications infrastructure, to cater for the creation of 18,000 jobs in this zone, is recommended. Incentives modelled on the International Financial Services Centre in Dublin are also proposed, to develop knowledge-intensive businesses on Waterford's north quays.
An independent University of the South East based in Waterford, with campuses in Wexford and Kilkenny, is another key recommendation.
The 45-page report also says the ports of Waterford, Rosslare and New Ross should be combined and the South East Regional Airport expanded.
It recommends a number of quality-of-life improvements and says Waterford should be developed as a "city for children", with a national children's museum and science centre.
Ms Harney said the report was a dynamic one that had exceeded her expectations.
It had realistic targets that were not "pie in the sky" and it would play a positive role in the development of the region in the coming years.
"Reports in themselves achieve nothing; the achievement is in the implementation. This is not a report that is going to lie on a shelf."
A regional forum with an executive to push for the report's implementation is to be established immediately.
The Strategy Waterford chairman, Mr Nicholas Fewer, said Waterford was a designated regional gateway and had a responsibility to initiate development and energise the region. "We're happy to lead the situation but we're also happy to listen."
