Government ‘should take advantage’ of stable building costs now, say surveyors

The Government should cash in on stable building costs by “pushing forward” with its €275 billion National Development Plan, construction and property professionals said on Thursday.

Construction costs rose 1.5 per cent in the first six months of the year, a report from the Society of Chartered Surveyors of Ireland (SCSI) said.

Tomás Kelly, the society’s vice-president, noted that the rate of building cost inflation had been easing over the last two years, hailing it a welcome development.

“The current period of tender price stability provides a great opportunity for Government to push forward with the much-needed infrastructure investment across a range of sectors,” Mr Kelly said.

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He said the society welcomed this summer’s updated National Development Plan, which earmarks €275 billion for spending on housing, water supply networks, electricity grid, transport and healthcare up to 2035.

Mr Kelly said the water supply network needed investment “urgently”.

State-owned utility Uisce Éireann recently highlighted to Government the challenges it faced in building the infrastructure needed to supply water to the 300,000 new homes that the Coalition wanted built in the Republic by 2030.

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Government has allocated €36 billion of the national plan’s total budget to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

The Department of Transport will get more than €22 billion. Big projects under its supervision include the controversial MetroLink line proposed from Dublin city centre to its airport.

Mr Kelly, whose society represents quantity surveyors, the construction professionals who calculate the cost of building projects, also stressed that the State should boost the electricity network.

EirGrid and ESB Networks, the companies responsible for this infrastructure, are seeking regulators’ approval to spend up to €19 billion over the next five years.

Each government department involved has to publish individual “sectoral investment plans” detailing how they will spend the cash allocated to them.

Mr Kelly urged the Government to publish these proposals quickly to provide details on the projects likely to get under way between now and 2030.