IPPN

THE Government’s failure to spend more than €800 million of its capital budget so far this year has cost 8,000 construction jobs, industry leaders have claimed.

The shortfall comes across all Government departments up to the end of August, when €3.4 billion was to have been spent. Among the departments behind target on capital budgets is the Department of Transport, which has a €275m, or 25%, under-spend this year.

John Gormley’s Department of Environment has not used €244m, almost one-third of its capital spending target, for the first eight months of 2010.

With around 10 jobs created with every €1m invested in capital projects, the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) said these latest exchequer spending figures represent a missed opportunity for the Government to stimulate economic activity by providing vital infrastructure.