Building costs increased slightly in the first half of 2012, according to the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland.
The society's tender price index shows that construction tender prices increased by 1% since the end of last year.
They were up 3% for the full year from the first half of 2011.
Rising input costs, such as building materials and energy costs such as oil, have been blamed for the increases.
"As an island nation, we rely on world market commodities which can have a significant impact on our cost competitiveness," said Andrew Nugent, the chairman of the quantity surveying professional group of the SCSI.
"The increases in building costs over the past 12 months continue to reflect the reality on the ground that there is a shortage of new construction projects and consequently a diminished pool of available contractors. This is due to both company failures and the focus by Irish contractors on overseas markets," he added.
According to the SCSI Index, construction tender prices have fallen by about one third since their peak in the first half of 2007 and are now still only at a level last seen 13 years ago, in 1998.
