The Construction Industry Federation has claimed that output will decline significantly over the next year because Government projects are not being delivered.
In a new assessment, the Federation says the length of time between the short-listing of projects and the actual commencement of activity has increased dramatically.
The CIF has instituted a new activity barometer, tracking Government public procurement notices and projecting what is likely to happen in the short to medium-term.
It has concluded that construction output is set to decline significantly over the coming year-and-a-half as investment in transportation, education, water and waste water is unwound.
More significantly, it maintains that it has identified, in some cases, a two- to three-year time-lag between the announcement of a tender and the actual commencement of activity.
The Federation argues that the Government's plans for new public construction projects over the next four years bears no relationship to evidence on the ground.
The CIF says the result is that public and private output will drop to €12bn this year and below €10bn next year, from €19bn last year.
