The contribution of the construction industry to the Irish economy is considerable in terms of output, employment, capital expenditure and in the provision of infrastructure requirements. There are numerous factors that determine the demand for construction output and to fully understand the economic importance of the construction industry it is essential to monitor and analyze these indicators.

1) Economic Growth:

~ GDP and GNP (% changes as well as monetary value)

~ Value of construction output

~ Construction as a percentage of GDP

2} Employment in Ireland: 


~ Employment and unemployment rates

~ Construction Employment: direct and indirect

3) Inflation:


~ Consumer Price Index

~ Construction Tender Price Inflation/Construction Cost Inflation

4) Private Residential Sector (owner-occupier or investment) 


5) Social Housing (and affordable housing) 


6) Private non-residential (eg. offices, hotels, retail) 


7) Productive infrastructure (eg. rail, road, airport, seaport) 


8) Social infrastructure (eg. healthcare, education buildings) 


9) Fiscal Policy

~ Budget (current and capital expenditure)

~ National debt, government deficit

10) Monetary Policy Implementation

~ ECB interest rates & credit control

11) Apprenticeship Training/Education

12) International Trade/Brexit

13) Sustainable Development

A written report providing critical analysis and discussion of the construction industry in Ireland over the last decade.

Significant trends (positive and/or negative) must be identified and explained prior to any relevant relationships between variables outlined and discussed (for example employment in the economy as a whole versus construction; economic growth and construction industry growth; inflation and employment). The analysis should highlight critical drivers and the impact of the trends and draw linkages to the various sectors within the industry (where relevant).

The report should also provide a forecast of future output for construction identifying the key contributing factors and likely drivers of future output within the sector, and for the economy as a whole. Topical issues, for example, Brexit, should form part of the discussion in the context of the Irish economy and the potential impact (if any) on the construction sector.

The written report may include some of the visual displays from the first component and must be referenced in accordance with the Harvard System. A possible structure for the written report is outlined as follows:

•  Title Page (Group member name, student number, course, year)
•  Abstract (Executive summary c. 200 words)
•  List of tables, list of figures, list of abbreviations
•  Table of contents
•  Introduction
•  Macroeconomic objectives (trends and analysis)
•  Construction industry and macroeconomic objectives (trends and analysis)
•  The future outlook for the economy (including opportunities and threats)
•  The future outlook for the construction industry (including opportunities and threats )
•  Conclusions
•  References (Harvard system)
•  Appendices (minutes of group meetings; graphical displays not included in the main 
body of the report) 
The written report should be approximately 5,000 words (excluding preliminaries, bibliography, and appendices) and a screenshot of the word count must be included as an appendix.