BUILDING AND construction activity by volume fell by 11.7 per cent in the first quarter of 2010 compared to three months earlier, according to new figures from the Central Statistics Office.

The biggest decline was in the civil engineering sector, where activity was down 31.5 per cent.

Heretofore, this sub-sector suffered less than others, but the impact of Government spending cuts appears to be taking hold.

Residential building volumes declined by 7.4 per cent during the quarter. This brings the cumulative decline since the construction bubble burst to 90 per cent.

The value of output by volume for all building and construction fell by 13 per cent on the quarter, the figures show.

Building and construction activity declined by 23 per cent when compared with the same quarter a year earlier, with the value of production falling by 23.9 per cent.

The CSO publication included figures for all 27 EU countries. These figures show that the decline in the construction sector is Ireland has been far larger than in any other country.

Since 2006, the volume of output has declined by three-quarters.

Latvia was the next-worst construction performer, with a cumulative decline in excess of 50 per cent. Spain, which was third from bottom, has seen a decline of more than 40 per cent.