Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan has warned that the building boom in Ireland is coming to a 'shuddering end'.
Minister Lenihan made the comment as he was addressing a European construction conference at Dublin Castle this morning.
He said he had the misfortune to become Finance Minister at a time when the construction industry was slowing down and there was a global credit crunch.
The minister said the Irish market had become inflated and said it was unfortunate that the national market adjustment process was happening alongside an international credit squeeze.
He added that he would not dwell on the matter for too long, but said it was important for all European countries to bear in mind that they could not control certain economic factors which are happening outside the EU.
The minister's comments come as new figures show that the number of planning permissions granted for new homes in the first three months of this year was down almost 10% compared with a year earlier.
The Central Statistics Office said 18,582 new homes were approved, down 9.5% from a year earlier.
Approvals for new houses dropped by 15% to 13,301, but permissions for apartments were up 8% at 5,281.
The CSO figures show that just over 20% of homes granted planning permission were one-off houses.
