In a 2006 report entitled Closing the Infrastructure Gap the OECD concluded: "Investment in infrastructure has not kept pace with Ireland's very rapid economic growth. Infrastructure deficits are beginning to show in a number of areas. Road congestion, a lack of broadband access and a shortage of waste disposal capacity could become bottlenecks restricting long-term growth."

The second six-year plan, to be launched on Tuesday, is supposed to address those problems. The headline announcements will include a bumper investment in roads and public transport, following up on the government's Transport 21 plan.

Investment in sustainable energy, education and telecommunications and funding for waste management will also be high on the agenda. As in 2000, investment in social housing is expected to be a priority and the plan will include initiatives to improve childcare.

But what are the key areas that NDP 2 will address and where should the investment be directed?

Transport "Transport 21 is a huge part of the NDP. We already know what's in it. It's delivery, delivery, delivery. That's our main priority, " said Danny McCoy, policy director with the Irish Business and Employers Confederation.

The construction industry, which will be one of the main beneficiaries of government funding for capital projects, is focusing on the catchphrase that is likely to be the running theme of the new NDP - "balanced regional development".

Liam Kelleher, director general of the Construction Industry Federation, said road-building will be a key part of achieving that goal.

The CIF will be looking for commitments that improvements needed to bring the network of national primary roads up to an acceptable standard will be prioritised and that the pledge to link towns and cities outside Dublin via inter-urban road networks will be completed within the six-year time frame.

Green Party transport spokesman Eamon Ryan, said, however, that there is a strong case to be made for significantly increasing investment in public transport beyond what is envisaged in the Euro34.4bn Transport 21 plan.

"We would change the emphasis in the spending. In 2006 the government spent six times more on roads than on public transport, " Ryan said.

Ryan believes the hard lessons learned from major infrastructure projects such as the Luas in Dublin should now be applied to other cities such as Galway and Cork to deliver public transport projects aimed at taking cars off the roads and easing both congestion and pollution.

"Take the lessons from quality bus corridors and light rail in Dublin . The lead time should be much less."

Energy Several initiatives to encourage renewable energy projects are expected in NDP 2 but the plan will also need to address some key infrastructure concerns, according to Robin Greer of Viridian. Significant investment is needed in the national power grid to ensure that electricity generated from wind plants and other renewable sources can be hooked into the grid.

"You'd like to see it copperfastened that the grid is going to be enabled so that renewables can come online, " he said.

With two gas-fired plants under development in Cork, at Aghada and Whitegate, Greer also said the transmission network in the south will be in urgent need of an upgrade.

"How much will be spent to upgrade the lines and who is going to pay for it?" he asked.

Waste management From 2010, Ireland faces hundreds of millions of euros in fines if it fails to meet its EUmandated obligations to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill sites.

Building a large incinerator at Poolbeg in Dublin was one part of the strategy to hit the EU targets but the controversial project would not be operational until 2009 at the earliest. In the meantime, Irish businesses face some of the highest landfill charges in Europe as local authorities increase prices.

Gabriel Dennison, environmental director with waste management company Greenstar, said even if the Poolbeg plant gets the goahead it will not address the problem of a low level of materials recovery and recycling in Ireland.

"If you build an incinerator on such a scale that effectively it's giving you a getout-of-jail card, you're not really cutting across the longer-term issue, " he said.

Dennison said more "creative and aggressive" solutions were needed to change that waste disposal habits of both businesses and consumers and to provide realistic alternatives to landfill.

The Green Party's Eamon Ryan said recycling programmes introduced by local authorities had already indicated that Irish people would separate their waste if bins and collection facilities were provided.

"Rather than spending the Euro500m on an incinerator maybe we should spend it on collecting more recycling bins, " he said.

Tourism Tourism is another sector where "balanced regional development" will be the watchword in NDP 2.

"The main area I expect to see would be [funding for] more product development in the regions, " said Alex Gibson, head of the tourism department at Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT).

"For example there are gaps in the market for family facilities."

Funding for marketing of individual regions will also be an important tenet of the plan. Gibson said many within the sector would also welcome additional investment in education to provide skilled graduates and marketing professionals for the tourism and hospitality sectors.

Telecommunications The problem of how to address Ireland's broadband deficit remains unsolved. A tender is to be issued in March for proposals on building a network, probably encompassing wireless technology, to push broadband availability to 100%.

Improving the existing infrastructure to ensure it meets future technological demands is another key issue to be addressed in the coming years. The state has invested in the Metropolitan Area Networks (MAN) and fibre networks owned by Bord Gáis, ESB and Irish Rail.

The chief executive of Enet, the Limerick-based company which manages the MANs, believes it's time to bridge the gaps between them. Conal Henry said the various networks should be linked to create an independent state-run network that will compete with Eircom.

In its submission to NDP 2, however, Eircom says priority should be given not to reinforcing a fibre backbone, which merely duplicates its own core network, but to extending its existing fibre network closer to people's homes, replacing as much of the old copper wire as possible and creating what it calls a Next Generation Network.

The prohibitive cost of doing this - up to Euro4bn according to Eircom's estimates - will mean some sort of publicprivate partnership if the NDP is to pursue this suggestion.

Education The Euro3.8bn Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation (SSTI) will form a central plank of Tuesday's announcements in relation to investment in education.

The government has set out its intention to double the numbers of PhD students graduating from Irish universities, to increase investment in research and development and to form stronger links between thirdlevel institutions and industry.

Ferdinand von Prondzynski, president of Dublin City University, said achieving those goals will require significant investment in capital infrastructure for research and development. Laboratories need to be built and fitted out with world-class equipment and research needs to be funded. Von Prondzynski said third-level institutions are hoping to see funding for such capital infrastructure ring-fenced as part of the NDP and deployed as a matter of urgency.

"It will need to be done very quickly. The time scales earmarked in the SSTI are tight and that clock has been running, " he said.

Von Prondzynski said he was expecting to see a significant part of the NDP dedicated to funding third-level institutions but said it also had to address problems in other areas of the education system.

"There is some big catchup that needs to be done at the lower levels in the education system, " he said.

The lack of pre-primary education for children in disadvantaged areas needs to be addressed, he said, as it aggravates disadvantage and contributes to social problems.

"I'm hoping that the government, which has actually been slow to pick up that particular agenda, will address it, " he said.