Despite the expected scaling back of house construction this year, Fogarty believes that the fundamentals in the sector still remain strong . . . especially in non-residential building. "There is unquestionably a slowdown in the housing market. But that is coming from unsustainably high levels and I think all the commentators agree with that. As far as the civil engineering and commercial building are concerned, they are still booming and there is a huge demand, " he said.

He finds it hard to imagine the housing slump impacting other sectors given the huge priority now attached to infrastructural development. "Our infrastructure was neglected for decades and this deficit was caused by underinvestment by successive governments. I think there is a recognition that economic development will follow investment in infrastructure.

I believe the new Minister for the Environment will want to continue with this progress and sort out some of the problems regarding water provision and sewage treatment, " he explained.

"As for the road programme, the interurbans will be built in another two to three years and I couldn't imagine anyone wanting to interfere with that. What needs to be done on the rural roads relates to road safety and it's certainly not appropriate policy to downgrade those".

As SIAC's director with responsibility for operation and strategic development of its civil engineering division, Fogarty is deeply involved with the road building programme and the row over the M3 is keeping his hands full. "It's a 55km long motorway and the protests have certainly slowed construction on around 8km of it, " he said.

He believes fears about the potential destruction of a valuable archaeological site are exaggerated. "I think that all of the archaeologists involved, whether they opposed building the road or not, none believe that the Lismullen site should be preserved intact.

Instead it should be preserved by record, because there isn't anything of significance left, " he said. "The people of Navan are in support of it and they are the silent majority.

The protesters are well meaning and they are entitled to their view, but I think they are misguided about the extent of the impact. If you go to the top of the hill of Tara and look into the valley you will notice how little you can see of the existing road. The new M3 is going to go at least a kilometre, and in most cases two kilometres, further away from it and the vegetation in the valley is such that you can't see it for the most part, " he added Despite his bullish assessment, Fogarty says the industry faces a number of issues of concern. "We believe that there is a co-ordination element that is a little bit lacking with the National Development Plan. When you look at the various elements of the infrastructure build, such as water, sewage treatment, surface water and the road system, where they come together, it frees up the land for investment in commercial development and a co-ordinated approach to projects would be better, rather than the government saying they are going to spend this amount of money on these various sectors over a particular period of time, " he outlined.

Such a co-ordinated approach would drive greater efficiency, he believes, and the government could thereby help control costs.

"We're not asking for handouts, but if the government could help us become more efficient, our costs would go down, the government's spend would fall and productivity would be higher, " he said.

Fogarty is critical of some of the government's attempts to drive efficiency from the top, namely the introduction of a new contract regime for infrastructure projects. The government believes that paying a fixed price lump sum for projects will help eliminate cost over-runs by obliging contractors to factor in things such as inflation risks into their tender price. Fogarty says the new contracts will put the burden of risk entirely on contractors and would be tough on the smaller players.

"They are assuming the risk irrespective of their ability to quantify it or assess it accurately or to bear it if things go wrong. Lots of our smaller members will find that very difficult and I believe it will change the nature of our industry, " he says.

While consolidation would be to the advantage of big guns like Fogarty's SIAC, he takes pride in the fact that the CIF isn't simply a lobby group for its most powerful members but takes care of people in the industry from the ground up. A case in point is its approach to pensions. At a time when serious concerns are being voiced about the lack of pension provision in many areas of the private sector, construction is the only industry with a sectorwide mandatory pension scheme in place.

"Without the guys on the ground doing the work, we don't exist. The construction industry has minimum standards of pay and conditions far in excess of anything guaranteed by legislation. When people notice issues around conditions in the sector, the only reason that happens is because the Registered Employment Agreement and the mandatory pension scheme are in place and our members are expected to adhere to them, " he said The appointment of Tom Parlon as the CIF's new director general attracted a good deal of critical comment in the media, with predictable speculation that the former junior minister could pass on sensitive information from his time steering the Office of Public Works . . . something Fogarty claims not to have entirely foreseen. "The last thing we thought of was conflict of interest. We wouldn't ask him for information and we don't believe he has information that would be advantageous to members, " he said.

Instead, it was Parlon's record at the Irish Farmers Association that attracted the CIF, according to Fogarty, who no doubt is hoping the Progressive Democrat stalwart works the same magic at the CIF as it copes with the coming hangover from the housing boom. "He did a fabulous job at the IFA and he raised their profile very considerably. He's effective, he's a good leader and he's going to rally the troops for us and express our view as well as we could possibly wish".

CV
HANK FOGARTY

Age: 63
Occupation: Director of SIAC and president of the Irish Construction Industry Federation Employment History: Joined SIAC in 1971 after periods with Stanislaus Kenny & Partners and Dublin County Council. Appointed manager of the Civil Engineering Division in 1979 and became a director in 1986.
Family: Married with two adult sons Hobbies: Sports, hill walking, running and reading