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The ‘Accelerating Infrastructure: Report on Stakeholder Consultation and Engagement with Emerging Themes on Infrastructure’ has been published by the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation.
Hubert Fitzpatrick, Director General of the Construction Industry Federation (CIF), has today welcomed the publication, saying:
“Many of the conclusions and recommendations of the report reflect the submission made by the Construction Industry Federation to the Infrastructure Division within the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation.
“These include the view that Ireland’s infrastructure delivery model is underperforming due to the complexity of cross-cutting regulatory approvals and consents, involvement of judicial review proceedings, uncertainty of funding and project pipeline, and the administrative complexity, fragmented responsibilities, and regulatory bottlenecks pertaining.”
The report referenced the requirement to carefully consider the capacity of the construction industry to expand to meet all the investment needs in the economy, and to poor productivity within the industry.
Hubert Fitzpatrick said: “The reason that the number of construction firms tendering for public sector works is low is due to the complexity, risk transfer, rigidity, and adversarial nature of the public works contract. This is acknowledged in the Department’s report, which confirms that this will be reviewed to consider more collaborative ways of working, dispute avoidance, and resolution methods available. This is welcomed by the industry.
“Views expressed in the report refer to insufficient clarity being included in the National Development Plan for the construction sector to meet large investment needs for delivery. The Federation has always articulated that sight of a reliable and timely pipeline of construction projects is required to enable the industry to plan ahead and ensure that it has the required resources to deliver.
“In relation to the emigration data published in the report of 2,400 to 4,900 construction workers leaving Ireland annually, we are adamant that with sight of a timely, reliable pipeline of construction projects coming to the market within specific timeframes, the industry can stem this emigration flow of construction workers and can indeed reverse this flow to support the industry in delivery.
“On productivity, many measures within construction have moved into the manufacturing sector, with off-site construction for various elements prevalent throughout the industry. This can lead to an understatement of levels of improved productivity within the sector. Indeed, the industry has demonstrated its international competitiveness in continuing to win work overseas, with the export side of the industry growing at a faster rate than the domestic side of the industry.
“The federation will continue to work with government agencies and departments in identifying the challenges facing the industry, and solutions required to support Government in the delivery of its ambitions under the National Development Plan.”