A new survey has revealed a significant proportion of construction work in Northern Ireland is taking place overseas…
According to the latest RICS and Tughans Construction Market survey almost half of all work undertaken by construction companies in Northern Ireland is overseas.
The lack of recovery in the nation is thought to be behind the shift, with most construction in Northern Ireland stagnating or experiencing modest growth.
The survey found the only area to see significant growth was the private housing sector. Overall surveyors saw an increase in workloads during the final quarter of last year, but this was slower than other UK regions.
Infrastructure saw a significant fall during the final three months of 2015, making it the ninth consecutive quarter to see problems.
Michael McCord, construction partner at Tughans, said: “With construction activity in Great Britain forging ahead and the Irish government having announced a capital plan worth €27bn over the next six years, those Northern Ireland construction businesses working outside the region will have cause for optimism regarding the outlook.
“The outlook within Northern Ireland is perhaps less positive. However, it is vitally important that all efforts are made to invest in and improve our infrastructure to support the development of the local economy.”
RICS Northern Ireland spokesman Jim Sammon said: “All four quarters of 2015 saw growth in overall Northern Ireland construction workloads, but this was from a low base, and in each quarter the rate of growth was significantly lagging other UK regions.
“Investing in infrastructure is a crucial part of rebalancing and growing the economy. We need better roads and railways, schools, hospitals, and energy infrastructure to meet our sustainable energy needs.
“Government needs to create the conditions to grow jobs and business, including attracting inward investment, through for example, strengthening support for Invest NI to ensure that they have the resources to market our changed position on corporation tax.
“More jobs in Northern Ireland will create demand for construction activity at home.”