MORE THAN half of construction firms have lost five jobs to the black economy in the last year, according to a new survey by the Construction Industry Federation (CIF).

The CIF survey found 85 per cent of construction companies had come across an increased number of black-economy operations in the last 12 months, with one in two companies coming across clients who had experienced problems with black-economy operators or the work they had carried out.

It also found that almost 20 per cent of construction firms believed that black-economy activity in the sector had grown by more than 100 per cent since the downturn began.

The body, which represents the Republic’s building industry, said more than three-quarters (76 per cent) of construction firms had experienced black-economy operations in the last three months.

The survey was conducted among 408 CIF member companies in early July 2012. Some 93 per cent of respondents said the Government needed to take stronger action to regulate black-economy operators in the industry.

Construction Industry Federation director general Tom Parlon said legitimate construction operatives were finding it more difficult to win work.

“The fact is that they are being undercut by black-economy operators when it comes to tendering.”

Such operators were able to do this because they were not paying tax, they were not providing their workers with the mandated wages and pensions, they were using lower-quality materials and they were not abiding by the various regulations set for the construction industry, he added.

Last year the CIF said the growing black economy in the Republic’s building industry was costing taxpayers about €2 billion a year. It said the problem was most evident in areas such as “once-off” housebuilding, home repair and maintenance, and commercial contracting.