Infrastructure investment 'key to contributing to the national economic recovery' - CIF |
Infrastructure spend will help economic recovery: CIF
The Construction Industry Federation has warned that up to 100,000 jobs could be lost in the sector over the next 12 months unless the Government increases investment in infrastructure.
Delivering its mid-year review today, the group called for the implementation of the CIC proposal to leverage private pension fund investment in Irish public projects.
However, the group says the use of private fund investment should be in addition to direct Exchequer investment “in order to boost employment and expedite the eradication of Ireland’s infrastructure deficits”.
The group said new projects identified in the National Development Plan and subsequent Government investment plans are unlikely to start and this will lead to continued job losses. The CIF say 200,000 jobs have already been lost in the industry over the past two years.
It said Government infrastructure investment was the key to safeguarding jobs in the sector and would contribute to economic recovery.
The review is based on feedback from CIF’s 3,000 member firms.
It said a range of infrastructure projects identified in the National Development Plan and subsequent Government spending plans were to be undertaken during the period 2010 to 2013.
But it said the possibility of the projects going ahead was “rapidly diminishing as a direct consequence of Government’s failure to proceed with their planning and procurement”.
It estimates that between €500 million and €1 billion worth of new projects will start this year but that this is well below the level required to sustain the Public Capital Programme set out in April’s Budget, which is predicated on an annual average spend of €6bn between 2010 and 2013.
“Unless projects are commenced this year, with all the will in the world, it will be impossible for Government to honour the commitments under its own spending programme or under the National Development Plan and Transport 21,” the review states.
The CIF says the significant and welcome spending by the State this year relates to ongoing programmes that are now coming to an end and it will not be possible for the Government to sustain the Public Capital Programme unless new projects are commenced.
“Based on what we currently know, only one new roads project will start this year and there is significant uncertainty around the delivery of projects identified in Transport 21; the HSE has recently announced that it will not proceed with any additional new projects this year; the targets for spending on schools, despite the ongoing debate about the use of temporary pre-fabricated structures, will not be met; and industry feedback indicates that the design, planning and procurement of water improvement and water supply projects are severely interrupted,” the CIF said.
On a more positive note, however, the review states that firms are embracing new technologies and processes to avail of “emerging opportunities” in the environmental and sustainability sectors.
It also states that Irish companies are refocusing their operations on foreign markets. |
