OVER 300,000 builders will have lost their jobs in the three years to the end of 2010, the industry’s main representative body warned politicians yesterday.

The Construction Industry Federation (CIF) predicted the sector would be worth €10 billion, and argued that, on the basis of comparisons with other EU countries, it should be about €18 billion.

CIF estimates that direct and indirect employment in the industry will fall below 100,000 by the end of next year, from a peak of 400,000 in 2007.

The federation’s director general, Tom Parlon, told the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment yesterday that the organisation was seeking to create a national construction partnership forum to address the crisis. The forum would include representatives of employers, workers, Government and all other stakeholders.

While the Government has pledged to spend €6 billion a year on infrastructure, the federation has already warned that it has not begun preparing new projects, which means that once those that are under way are complete, work will run out for its members and their staff.

Mr Parlon said the CIF wanted a new pay deal for the industry. Wages are determined by an agreement between employers and unions, and registered at the Labour Court.

Mr Parlon said employers would like to tackle the “inflexibility” in the registered employment agreement.