JUST €78 million worth of state construction tenders were announced in January, the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) said yesterday.

THE Labour Court has formally ratified the 7.5% cut in the minimum pay rates in the construction industry, a move which experts say could lead to savings of €300 million to €400m.

ONE of the country’s largest building companies, McNamara Construction, has gone into receivership – putting a number of major construction projects around the country on hold and threatening the future of thousands of sub-contractor employees.

The Construction Industry is warning of a further crisis in the sector because of a 25% Government underspend on capital investment.

THE Government’s failure to spend more than €800 million of its capital budget so far this year has cost 8,000 construction jobs, industry leaders have claimed.

THE Government is set to only meet half of its infrastructural investment commitments in 2011, the Construction Industry Federation has claimed.

Fresh fears have been sparked over the future of the construction sector.

EMPLOYERS’ groups have broadly welcomed the Government’s promise to invest €40 billion in infrastructural development over the next six years but demanded that words must be turned into action.

A new height restriction that would see new buildings in Dublin capped at four stories is being proposed at a Council meeting this evening.

IRELAND suffered the third-biggest drop in construction output in Europe over the past 12 months, according to new figures from the Central Statistics Office.

The Construction Industry Federation is warning of further heavy job losses within the sector if the Government doesn't invest in public infrastructure.

EMPLOYMENT in construction has halved since the industry’s peak in 2007 and will drop by a further 40,000 this year alone, experts have predicted.

The Construction Industry Federaton is today warning that up to 100,000 jobs in the sector will be at risk next year.

MORE than a third of schools promised by Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe that their major building projects would begin tendering or construction this year have not moved to that stage – with less than a month left to meet the deadline.

HIGH-STREET retailer Principles and shoe store Shoe Studio Ireland have been put into liquidation with the potential total loss of more than 330 jobs.

THE Construction Industry Federation claims 55,000 jobs will be lost within six months unless Government reinvigorates capital infrastructure plans and banks start issuing mortgages.

THE Construction Industry Federation (CIF) has predicted construction output will fall to just half of its 2007 peak next year, with employment over the period dropping by up to 90,000.

FÁS has predicted employment figures will rise by 24,000 in 2008 — before plummeting by 31,000 next year.

PREDICTIONS by FÁS that there will be 76,000 job losses in the house construction sector by the end of next year has prompted both SIPTU and the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) to demand that the Government press ahead with its infrastructural projects immediately.

THE Government has said it has not been involved in any investigation into alleged price-fixing by construction companies fighting for lucrative public contracts.

SIPTU has called for an urgent shift in the country’s training and educational programmes in light of claims that 80,000 construction workers are at risk of long-term unemployment because of their lack of educational qualifications.

IRELAND’S stamp duty regime, as it is now constituted, is an ill-conceived and ill-constructed tax on the mobility of individuals and families.

A GROWING number of Irish tradesmen are swapping the Celtic Tiger for the sunny Oz lifestyle and job opportunities Down Under, according to Australian visa agencies.

Ardmore 1-16, Tramore 0-8