An Emergency meeting of major construction employers has been called by the Construction Industry Federation (CIF).

Monday's planned meeting is in response to the government announcement of a new spending and tax plan and the deteriorating situation with regard to employment in the industry.

Tom Parlon, CIF Director General, said: "The Government has to balance spending cuts and tax hikes with measures to protect employment and make it easier for employers to keep their workforces intact.

"The commentators, including politicians, who recommend cutting infrastructure spending obviously don't appreciate that 190,000 people are dependent on this spending.

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"The loss of thousands of construction jobs will undo any savings achieved by spending and tax measures," he said.

Mr Parlon said: "It has been pointed out to government and they have accepted the figures, that every €100m invested in infrastructure generates a thousand jobs, raises almost €50m in revenue for the exchequer, and saves €30m in social welfare payments."

According to Mr Parlon, construction is the only sector of the economy capable of reversing the trend of job losses.

But he suggested in both the October budget and in January's €2bn savings plan, hundreds of infrastructure projects were cut.

"The purpose of this emergency meeting on Monday is to formulate an industry wide plan to save jobs in the industry as well as to outline to government that the meltdown in construction employment will continue in the absence of a major stimulus plan for the industry," said Mr Parlon.

This is believed to be the first time that all sectors of the construction industry have come together to voice their concerns about what is happening in the industry.

(PR/JM)