Arcadis, the leading global design and consultancy organization for natural and built assets, today released its Autumn 2025 Ireland Construction Market View Report. This comprehensive analysis provides key insights into the current economic conditions, sector performance, and future projections for the Irish construction market, and outlines growth opportunities spurred by the recently announced National Development Plan.

Ireland’s construction sector experienced rapid growth in the first quarter of 2025, however housing production remains low. The state is adopting a very ambitions investment programme and the questions remains: Can Ireland’s constructors step up to the challenge of an accelerating building boom?

Key Insights from the 2025 Ireland Construction Market Overview Report:

Housing Sector: Despite a 7% decrease in housing completions in 2024, with a total of 30,230 units, and a dismal set of housing construction starts in 2025, the sector has huge potential, supported by significant government interventions. The National Development Plan (NDP) outlines a robust €20.6 billion five-year capital investment aimed at increasing housing completions to meet growing demand and analysis indicates that the implementation of these measures, coupled with updated planning frameworks, could potentially trigger a housing boom, which will be necessary to increase production by 65% to achieve the target of 50,000 homes per year by 2030.

Rail and Infrastructure Expenditure: Transport has received a significantly larger allocation in the latest NDP, up by 70% in current prices. Rail investment in particular is a major priority, and the new allocation will bring forward the Navan rail line confirms both the Dublin Metrolink programme and the wider implementation of the All-Island Strategic Rail Review. These NDP announcements increase confidence in the long-term investability of the Ireland rail programme.

Labour and Contractor Market: The construction workforce grew by 3.5% in the year to Q1 2025 and now totals 182,000, the highest level of employment since 2012, and 26% above the long-term average. In a positive sign, the sectoral employment order covering 50,000 of Ireland’s 180,000 construction operatives has agreed a two-year deal from August 2025, averaging 3.3% pa, reducing the potential for above inflation wage inflation in affected parts of the industry. With government investment programmes due to expand from 2026 onwards, we anticipate that earnings growth will feed into higher levels of inflation from 2026 onwards. Contractor availability remains good.

Inflation Forecast: Analysis holds steady the inflation forecasts for both 2025 (4-5%) and 2026 (4-6%), and the slowdown in housing delivery will create headroom for other construction activity. Mixed market feedback on prospects for civil engineering leads us to wait for the publication of additional data before changing our projection. Arcadis predicts higher inflation in 2027 (5-6%) as delivery of the NDP accelerates, underscoring inflationary risks associated with a major increase in public expenditure.

Simon Rawlinson, Arcadis Head of Strategic Research and Insight, commented on the findings, stating: “The ambitious targets and investment in the National Development Plan underscore the critical need to address housing shortages and modernize Ireland’s rail systems, which are essential for sustainable urban development and economic resilience. Our analysis shows that the construction market has all the conditions to meet this moment, and needs to accelerate construction fast to make this growth vision a reality.”