The transport infrastructure in the immediate Waterford area is increasingly problematic, and was highlighted by a Bausch & Lomb vice-president, Mr James Kennedy, at last week's expansion announcement. He referred to the worsening traffic congestion on the city's only bridge, and where vital parts of the planned ring-road were missing.

The Waterford Chamber of Commerce is demanding acceleration of the programme for completion of the second river crossing and its associated road network. On the schedule proposed to date, it would be well into the next century before the second bridge was opened, and Waterford's obvious development pressures make this timetable unacceptable.

The chamber also pointed out what is obvious to all local roadusers - the fact that poor road access between their city, the midlands and Dublin was placing Waterford at a disadvantage.

The N9 and N10 urgently needs upgrading and this has not been included in the roads programme, the chamber noted.

Mr Kennedy, significantly, also put the spotlight on Waterford's regional airport as a vital piece of infrastructure.

"As the world moves closer to the reality of the `global village', we simply have to have frequent scheduled flights and easy access to the rest of the world, and that is not the case at present," he said.

He added: "I believe the lack of good connections from Waterford to international [centres] is a negative for the development of further inward investment."

Calling for urgent expansion of the services in and out of the airport, the chamber also stressed that this should include an earlymorning link with London.