Ireland has a confusing patchwork of regions with overlapping boundaries and diverse functions which make real regionalisation impossible without a radical overhaul from the top.

We are miles away from real regionalisation, defined as the devolution of certain decision-making and administrative powers to regional bodies, and have only devolved very minor administrative functions to regional authorities.

Ireland's regional framework has been crushed out of existence in the dash for EU funds. Over the past 30 years even the notion of regional administration has been diluted, with each government department having its own "region". The result is that counties like Roscommon and Clare are torn between five different regions for the administrative purposes of the IDA, the ESB, Health, Agriculture, Forestry, Western Development and CSO data collection.

The regions are full of self-defeating anomalies. You can visit an 80-acre site in an excellent location with the potential to act as a hub for the development of major industry only to find that it has no telecoms, electricity, water or sewerage services and poor road access. Elsewhere you can visit a location with excellent industrial infrastructure but no development site to capitalise on the resource.

The old-style patchwork quilt of regional administration is not a basis for sound regional economic planning. Furthermore, the Western Commission learned in the summer of 1997 that few if any Government Departments had regional plans or targets and many did not envisage having any such plans in the future.

Yet the characteristics and economic challenges facing Irish regions are very diverse. Rapid economic growth in the Dublin region, now accounting for nearly one-third of the industrial output of the country, has not impacted on large blackspots such as Blakestown, Corduff and Mountainview, which have 70 per cent unemployment.

We have 3,912 kilometres of western coastline, and yet our fish production is one-fifth of that of Iceland. Other natural resources in the west equally contrast with its status as a poor region. The present National Development Plan has failed to create balanced growth within and between regions and has failed to capture adequately the indigenous resources of many regions to form a basis for long-term sustainable growth.

So where to start? Where possible, Government Departments should work to co-terminate regions, and strong regional development bodies should be formed.

Regional growth goals will not be achieved without organisations in place which are accountable for their achievement. Proper regional development organisations with full Government backing should be advanced as a matter of urgency, and on a partnership basis.

This would involve existing State development agencies, the business, voluntary and community sectors, EU officials and the trade union movement, and should have a high degree of democratic accountability.

These bodies should then be charged with developing an all-embracing regional plan covering social, physical and economic development. Their plans should be fully costed, prioritised and negotiated at national level, resulting in clearly defined regional development goals and budgets.

April 1999 is the date by which regional development agencies will be fully operational in the UK. The RDA Bill is expected to receive royal assent on November 25th. Their recommended functions are a useful starting point for consideration in Ireland.

They are:

To improve regional rankings with respect to European regional GDP.

To develop and implement a regional economic strategy.

To integrate social, physical and economic regeneration measures.

To promote the regeneration of rural areas.

To improve the skills base of the region. and

To co-ordinate inward investment and marketing activities for the region.

Decisive action is needed now to show we are serious about regionalisation. This week's Cabinet decision to adopt a regional approach is a major step forward but should be followed up immediately with a considered strategy for full and proper regionalisation for the country.

That strategy should include:

Full Government backing for the development of a robust regional policy for Ireland.

The preparation of fully costed, prioritised and integrated regional plans for the whole country based in the short term on current regional authority boundaries.

The establishment of empowered regional partnership bodies (regional development organisations) which can deliver part of these plans in a way that capitalises on regional diversity as a means to stimulate a more equitable national economy.

Liam Scollan is chief executive of the Western Development Commission which is charged with spearheading social and economic development in Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Roscommon, Galway, Mayo and Clare. Based at Ballaghaderreen, Co Roscommon, it is the only statutory body responsible for the integrated development of the region and works closely with the various Government departments and agencies. It is also responsible for managing the £25 million Western Investment Fund