House completions rose to record levels in the third quarter of 2001, according to the latest housing statistics bulletin from the Department of the Environment and Local Government. Total completions by the end of the third quarter reached 12,967, a rise of 345 on the same period in 2000.

"The figures clearly show the number of house completions in Ireland in 2001 in the first nine months of the year at record levels," said Dr Dan McLaughlin, chief economist with Bank of Ireland Group Treasury. "They're almost 5 per cent above what they were last year, so unless there is a dramatic collapse in quarter four, they're going to be the highest on record. Even if it doesn't beat last year's record of 49,812, it's certainly going to be very much above the 41,000-42,000 that people were talking about."

Many, including the Irish Home Builders Association (IHBA), had forecast a fall in house completions this year as a result of social housing provisions introduced by the Government last year and anti-investor measures in last year's budget.

"I have been arguing that 2001 was not as weak as some people were suggesting," Dr McLaughlin said. "If house building is up strongly and we know construction spending in the main presumably is a bit higher because of the National Development Plan, if you add all that into the pot, the construction sector has been a lot stronger than the rhetoric would suggest."

Mr Ciaran Ryan, director of housing at the IHBA, said the high number of completions was a surprise - but warned that housing completions would fall in coming quarters.