Construction industry statistics in Ireland are inadequate and compare unfavourably with what is available in other countries, Mr Michael Grogan, chairman of the Building Materials Federation, said yesterday.

In his review to the federation's annual general meeting, Mr Grogan said that, since housing accounted for 50 per cent of construction output, the Government should begin gathering housing start information and not rely on housing completions data.

"A housing completion total for 2001 of over 52,000 units did not reflect activity on the ground and demand for building materials," he said. "Housing completion data is historical in nature and of very little use for forward planning or forecasting purposes. The federation believes that timely and accurate information would be of use not just to materials producers but others in the construction sector and to the Government, both in terms of housing policy and supply-demand forecasts

This information is available in many other countries and benefits all with an involvement in the construction process," he said.