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CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY FEDERATION
CIF ANNUAL CONFERENCE URGES INDUSTRY: BE PREPARED FOR BREXIT Construction industry experts and senior executives at the recent annual Construction Industry Federation (CIF) conference at Croke Park in Dublin heard a call from the Irish Prime Minister to make sure they were ready for Brexit. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar urged industry leaders to ensure they were prepared for whatever the outcome would be, including a no-deal scenario. Over 500 CIF members who attended the construction industry’s flagship event in Croke Park heard the Taoiseach say that whatever happened, public capital investment will increase by a further 10% next year. “This will make us one of the highest-investing countries in Europe when it comes to infrastructure,” he added. Also speaking at the conference, Pat Lucey, Director for Infrastructure, John Sisk & Son (Holdings) Ltd and CIF president, thanked the Taoiseach for his presence at the day-long event. “Since becoming CIF President I’ve met you occasionally. I found your directness and understanding of the issues refreshing. Your presence and that of Minister Murphy and senior civil servants demonstrates a genuine commitment to effective collaboration between Government and industry.” He added: “For me, construction is collaboration. In my mind, the construction industry has a huge role to play in cohering our country together economically, politically and socially. “As a civil engineer, I of course, advocate for infrastructure. Every single economist out there tells us about the importance
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PLANT & CIVIL ENGINEER
of infrastructure in improving economic and social outcomes for the national economy, but also for the development of strong regional economies. “The connection is that without improved infrastructure in Ireland, regions will increasingly be left-behind and this will not only lead to reduced economic output, it will also lead to social and political issues in the future. To paraphrase, infrastructure is the great leveller. “Developing effective collaboration between the state and the construction industry is essential for the delivery of large-scale infrastructure and of course housing delivery. We are on the road so to speak but we are not there yet. There
are too many blockages in the system that we must work together to resolve. “The first collective step to build effective collaboration should be to reverse the Cabinet decision from May 2004 introducing fixed price lump-sum contracts for construction. It was a regressive step and is the key logjam in the efficient and cost-effective delivery of public sector contracts in this country. “Another area where politics is impacting on our industry and its output is the delay with the introduction of CIRI. For me, this is a chance to transform our industry by introducing a threshold for competence and quality, so there must be a minimum standard of competence before someone can be registered as an operator in the industry. CIRI is that step and we must take it promptly.”
