CIF warns on further job losses

Up to 300,000 builders will have lost their jobs by the end of next year if action is not taken to ease the impact of the recession on their industry.

Philip Crampton, vice president of the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) said today 200,000 jobs have been lost in the industry since it hit a peak in 2007.

"We will be down another 100,000 by this time next year if no action is taken," Mr Crampton, who runs one of the Republic's biggest building firms, warned.

He added that the 100,000 job losses would be greater than the amount of people the Government expects to lose their jobs in the economy as a whole over the next year.

In its pre-Budget submission, the federation calls on the Government to deliver on its promise to spend money on road building, schools, public transport and waste water treatment facilities.

The group argues that investment in labour intensive and badly needed construction projects such as these offers the most immediate way of securing jobs in the industry and supporting economic recovery.

CIF director Tom Parlon pointed out this morning that there are no signs of new State-backed projects coming on stream, and warned that when those under way are completed, large numbers of people will lose their jobs if there are no new developments.

The CIF also wants the Government to give first-time house buyers a "time-limited" tax break. The organisation believes that the number of unsold houses could generate up to €1.2 billion in VAT for State coffers.

CIF vice president Matt Gallagher said that the benefit of the tax break would go direct to the buyers themselves rather than to the developers.

It also wants it to cut stamp duty to 4 per cent, a move that it believes will help the Republic cash in on renewed investor interest.

The federation also wants the Government to tackle the high cost of doing business here by dealing with local service charges and other issues such as long planning delays.