Innovation in the building industry

摘要

Both in employment and monetary terms, construction is one of the major lynchpins of the Irish economy. Direct employment in the sector has reached a staggering 222,000, and a further 70,000 to 75,000 are employed in construction-related activities, meaning that about 15 out of every 100 people who work in Ireland, work in or for the construction industry. Speaking at a briefing last month, Liam Kelleher, Director General of the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) put the value of output for 2004 at ?28.2 billion, and he estimated that the industry will account for a sizeable 21 per cent chunk of GNP this year. That is almost twice the figure of a number of other European countries. Coupled with the National Development Plan (NDP), the unrelenting housing boom of recent years is a key driver behind of these phenomenal figures. The Irish construction industry is now churning out housing at a rate of 20 units per annum per 1,000 of the population, compared with averages of five per 1,000 for Europe and the US. This is in addition to its output in the non-residential sector and its role in driving forward the civil engineering elements of the NDP.