Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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845. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the level of construction inflation that has been experienced by his Department in each of the past six years and to date in 2017 in respect of construction projects and other capital projects; the way in which he monitors construction inflation and the mechanisms he employs to establish this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11533/17]

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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For Department of Defence capital projects, construction inflation, including  projections of future inflation levels, is monitored by reference to both the Tender Price Index published twice yearly by the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI) and the reports published annually by some of the larger Quantity Surveying and Cost Management firms.  The SCSI is an independent Index of construction tender prices in Ireland and is based on tender returns for non-residential projects, covering all regions of the country.  The published documentation provides a picture of typical construction inflation levels.

While the overall volume of construction projects progressed by the Department in recent years has been relatively small, the nature of the Defence property portfolio predisposes towards a high proportion of refurbishment work, including work on heritage type buildings, as well as projects relating to specialist military structures that are not typical construction projects, such as firing ranges, etc. The portfolio of properties requiring refurbishment is also quite disperse in location.

Construction inflation is monitored having regard to the prevailing inflation in the construction sector and any unique attributes of particular Defence projects.