The construction sector is officially in recovery, according to the Construction Industry Federation (CIF), after the latest CSO report on construction activity recorded the 5th consecutive quarterly increase in the volume of construction activity.

The latest CSO report showed the volume of construction activity had increased by 15.5% since the same period last year and there was also a 1.9% increase between Q2 and Q3 of 2013.

The CSO's latest Production in Building and Construction Index recorded a 16.6% in civil engineering activity and 6.9% increase in non-residential building. However there was a drop of 7.4% in the volume of residential building.

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Discussing the statistics, CIF Director General Tom Parlon said: "This is the fifth consecutive quarter that the CSO have recorded an increase in volume of construction activity. Over the course of the calendar year the level of construction activity in this country has grown by over 15%.

"This tallies with reports throughout the industry of increased levels of tenders and more on site work taking place. There has been a marked increase in activity and confidence has been consistently improving. The overall numbers point to a growing industry.

"Taking all this into consideration, along with the increase in construction employment of 9,100 between Q1 2013 and Q3 2013, I think we can now safely say that the construction sector on a national basis is officially in recovery."