NDP:Minister for Finance Brian Cowen said today that infrastructural investment is his top priority during his Budget speech today.
Transport, public housing and education topped the list of spending allocations in an €8.6 billion investment programme for next year under the National Development Plan (NDP).
Capital investment in health, environment including improved water schemes, agriculture and enterprise were also provided for.
Mr Cowen said the spending would lead to a "modest" 0.9 per cent exchequer deficit, which he said was "an appropriate response" to the economic slowdown.
"The National Development Plan is an ambitious programme of investment in the future. Nothing on this scale has ever been attempted before in our history.
"It will transform our country socially and economically, and I am determined to roll it out as planned and thereby secure our future. Postponing or delaying it would be a major policy error," Mr Cowen said.
Some €2.7 billion will be spent on transport with €1.7 billion directed towards roads, including the completion of works on the M50, including the Red Cow roundabout barrier-free tolling.
Regional roads investment will receive €600m while some 87km of dual carriageway, improving links from Dublin to the regional urban centres, will make up most of the remaining allocation.
Work on two long-awaited rail project will begin under a €1 billion public transport investment. The first phase of the Western Rail Corridor linking Galway to Athenry and the Navan Rail corridor linking Dunboyne to Dublin will commence.
There will also be continued investment in regional airports and increased capacity on buses, trains and the Luas will absorb further resources.
In education, Mr Cowen allotted €828 million. Some €95 million will be spent on the primary school building programme to cater for 13,000 new enrolments expected in 2008.
Third-level education will benefit from a capital investment of €184 million while a further €50 million has been assigned to smaller projects.
The Minister said 20,000 households would benefit from a €1.7 billion investment programme in public housing that would increase the provision of social housing units by 9,000, with a further 5,500 new affordable homes.
Regeneration schemes such as the Ballymun project further provision for the homeless would continue.
NDP investment will amount to 6 per cent of Gross National Product over the next five years, Mr Cowen said.
While accounting for infrastructural investment, the €184 billion plan which began this year and runs until 2013, also includes spending on a wide range of social and economic schemes.