The new Construction Industry Register Ireland (CIRI) has been officially launched.

Environment Minister Phil Hogan TD announced the new facility, which aims to enable the public, public procurement authorities and construction professionals to conduct all-Ireland searches for construction companies.

CIRI has been set up by the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) following discussions with the Minister and his Department. It covers 39 categories, including house building, extensions, plastering, carpentry, plumbing and electrical contracting.

-- Advertisement --

201 construction companies, sole traders and builders are listed on the CIRI register. A further 565 companies and sole traders are at different stages of the application process. It is thought there could be more than 2,000 entries listed on CIRI by the end of 2015.

Speaking about the launch of CIRI, Minister Hogan said: "I have long been of the belief that we need to bring regulation to the Irish construction industry. For too long we have had a situation in this country whereby anyone can pass themselves off as a builder or construction operative, regardless of their experience and regardless of whether they were following the industry regulations. That is why I asked the CIF to work with my Department in establishing CIRI. Now we have a resource the public can use for free and which aims to separate those construction companies and builders who can meet the standards from those who don’t."

(IT/MH)