The chief executive of Irish construction giant CRH has added his voice to concerns that the momentum of infrastructure projects under the National Development Plan may slow this year.
CRH's Liam O'Mahoney told RTE last night that while there were plenty of projects that would be completed this year, he was concerned that not enough new projects were starting.
Last week, the Construction Industry Federation said that four major road projects would not start this year because the National Roads Authority did not have enough cash.
Earlier on Monday, CRH said it had spent a total of €359 million on development initiatives during the second half of 2001, bringing the total spent last year to €1bn.
The spending included the acquisition of Tyrone Brick in the North and the upgrading of Irish Cement's crushing and blending facility in Dublin.
Most of the acquisitions were smaller companies which could be immediately integrated into CRH's operations, under what the company calls its 'bolt-on' strategy.
CRH said that in Europe it made eight acquisitions for its materials division at a cost of €38.6 million and invested €88.5 million in its products and distribution division.
In the US, CRH invested €51.6 million in acquisitions in its materials division and €180.5 million in its product and distribution sector.
