The supplementary Budget to be introduced by the Government has the potential to make things worse rather than better, according to the Construction Industry Federation.
CIF Director General Tom Parlon said the focus appeared to be on taxes and cuts and, in his view, this was 'entirely the wrong thing to do'.
He said the CIF was holding an emergency meeting in Dublin today in order to impress upon the government that economic activity had to be maintained.
Mr Parlon said more than 100,000 jobs in the sector have been lost over the past 12 to 15 months.
He argued that every €100m invested by the Government in capital projects led to the creation of 1,000 jobs and a return of €50m in tax revenue.
Today's meeting was held as a response to widespread speculation that projects in the National Development Plan, such as Dublin's Metro North, will either be postponed or scrapped altogether.
At the meeting, Ireland’s major construction employers identified infrastructure spending as the key to saving jobs, increasing exchequer revenues and providing a platform for economic recovery.
Representatives to the meeting agreed on a number of measures they want taken before the Government.
The emergency meeting involved not only the big construction companies but also suppliers, engineers and architects.
