The housing crisis and infrastructure gaps were the focus at the Construction Industry Federation’s (CIF) annual conference, which was held in Croke Park on Wednesday, October 2 last.

The event was attended by the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Eoghan Murphy.

The conference followed on from CIF’s recent pre-Budget 2020 submission, which highlighted the extension of the Help to Buy scheme as a priority for budget day next week.

Meanwhile, CIF is calling for an extension of the Help to Buy scheme because builders have reported that between 40% and 80% of homes sold to first-time buyers are currently enabled by the scheme.

The measure is considered the most effective intervention by Government by Irish house builders in terms of enabling housing supply.

‘Effective collaboration’

Speaking during the conference, Pat Lucey, CIF president, pointed to how effective collaboration between the state and the construction industry was essential for the delivery of large-scale infrastructure and housing delivery.

We are on the road so to speak but we are not there yet.

He continued: “There are too many blockages in the system that we must work together to resolve.

“I’ve grouped these challenges under four headings that I call the four Ps of construction and they include: people; procurement; productivity; and planning.

“I’ve recently added a fifth P that I now see has a huge impact on delivery – that is politics.”

Solving the housing crisis

Meanwhile, the organisation’s director general Tom Parlon said the “top priority” for CIF was working to finding a solution for the housing crisis and appealing to the Government to work with it on this issue.

Housing completions are increasing on average 35% year on year between 2014-2018 ,expanding from 5,500 to 18,000 annual output in that period.

He added: “The Help to Buy scheme has had a huge impact in driving this growth in annual output.

“Before the measure was introduced, young people were excluded from purchasing a home and were forced to rent, live at home and apply for social housing.

There are a myriad issues delaying the delivery of housing across Ireland; delivering infrastructure more efficiently is also part of the solution to Ireland’s housing crisis.

“However, our public sector procurement system is wholly inadequate in terms of delivering strategic infrastructure.

“Improving this system is the most significant step the Government could take in reducing project delays and cost overruns.”