THE Construction Industry Federation (CIF) will be asking the new Secretary General of the Department of the Taoiseach to take on board some of the points raised by members during a briefing session held in Limerick. The CIF is due to meet Mr. Martin Fraser to discuss some of the issues facing the construction industry and how the CIF can work with the Government to help the overall economy. CIF director general Tom Parlon. said,
“We had a very engaging session with members from the Mid West and a number of realistic, practical solutions were put forward. These will form part of the proposals we plan on putting forward
“The CIF and its members have some very valid ideas which we believe will get the construction sector moving and help the overall national economic picture.
“When you look at the numbers, it’s clear that the downturn in construction is having a major impact on the economy. To fix the State’s finances we need to get the construction sector growing again. That is why we are hoping that by bringing forward practical solutions we will see the State adopt measures to boost the sector and deal with some of the concerns voiced by our Mid West members”.
The Mid West briefing also heard that construction output could fall as low as €420 million this year. This compares to a €2.6 billion construction output enjoyed in the region during the peak of construction activity in 2006, and €560 million in 2011.
Nationally the level of activity is also expected to fall this year. In 2006 the national construction output was valued at €38.6 billion. In 2011 that fell to €9.2 billion. A further drop to an estimated level of output between €7 billion and €8 billion is expected by the CIF in 2012.
This has led to a severe drop in the level of direct employment in the construction industry, with only 107,600 employed at the end of 2011 compared with the peak of 269,900 in 2007. In the Mid West approximately 7,000 people now work in construction compared to 19,600 in 2007.
During the course of the meeting the members also heard detailed information about measures to improve competitiveness in the industry such as the status of negotiations surrounding the Registered Employment Agreement. They were also briefed on the progress of the Construction Contracts Bill which is set to enter Dáil Éireann.
CIF members heard that the level of housing completions in the Mid West fell to 897 in 2011 in comparison with 7,166 in 2006.
Additionally there were only 388 housing commencements in the Mid West during 2011, compared with 5,531 in 2006. Most of these were one off housing developments.
