Micheál Mahon (pictured), president of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland, warned the country needs a sustainable construction and property industry if progress is to be made in addressing the housing crisis and its infrastructural deficit.

He said that if the government was serious about tackling the housing crisis and building the 30,000 to 35,000 homes which are required, it needs to tackle the significant increases which have occurred in housing delivery costs as a matter of urgency.

Mahon, who is also chair of the Construction Industry Council, presented the findings of the SCSI’s ‘Real Cost of New Housing Delivery Report 2020’, which found that the cost of delivery of a new 3 bed-semi house in Dublin has increased by €41,000 to €371,000 over the last four years.

Mahon, who started in his role as president in August, was presenting at the society’s AGM, held in the Burlington Hotel.

The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland has 5,000 members.