Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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194. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the activity levels in different sectors of the construction industry; the extent to which the industry is active in commercial development, residential development, hotel and leisure development, student accommodation and so on; the way in which such activity and trends in the sector are monitored by or on behalf of his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35429/18]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I should begin by explaining my Department's role in relation to the matter raised by the Deputy. In February 2018 my Department produced the National Development Plan (NDP) 2018-2027 which, together with the National Planning Framework makes up Project Ireland 2040.

The NDP sets out a strategic vision for Ireland’s public infrastructure priorities over the next 10 years and is strictly aligned with the National Strategic Outcomes contained in the National Planning Framework (NPF). The plan signals a shift to a greater integration of regional investment plans, stronger coordination of sectoral strategies and more rigorous selection and appraisal of projects to secure value-for-money.

Achieving value-for-money is dependent on, among other things, a healthy, sustainable, competitive and well-functioning construction industry which offers good long-term quality employment and a sustainable level of construction output.

To that end, a commitment was made in the NDP to establish a Construction Sector Group in order to ensure regular and open dialogue between Government and the construction Sector.

The first meeting of the Group has taken place and an ambitious work programme is now in development.

As an important initial project, the Investment Projects and Programmes Office within the Department of Public Expenditure & Reform is compiling a Construction Sector Activity Report which will chart key trends in the sector including output, costs, labour market trends and productivity.

This work will add to the information and research which already exists in relation to this sector. For example the Department of Finance produce a "Housing and Property Sector Chartpack" ()

Furthermore, the Central Statistics Office produce a number of relevant statistics in relation to this matter, including:

- Gross Domestic Physical Capital Formation by Item and Year

- Volume of Production Index in Building and Construction by Type of Building and Construction

- Planning permissions granted by type of construction

The Construction Sector Activity Report will incorporate statistics such as these in order to give a comprehensive assessment of trends across the different components of the construction sector.