The figures show that there were only 404 buildings completed between January and June in the county, down from 1,192 for the same period in 2007.

The company jointly established by An Post and Ordnance Survey Ireland to create and manage a database of every building in the Republic of Ireland, identified just 404 new commercial and residential buildings across Leitrim for the first six months of the year, bringing the total number of buildings in the county to 18,188 at the end of June.

The latest figures only apply to residential and commercial buildings and do not include agricultural buildings completed during the same figure.

While the drop in demand has accounted for some of the drop, other factors include the ending of the Rural Renewal Scheme and the difficulties now being experienced by the construction industry.

The downward trend in completions were also reflected nationally where, in the first six months of the year, GeoDirectory identified 26,289 new commercial and residential buildings across the country, representing a 57% decrease in the number of new buildings nationally when compared with the same period last year, when 60,781 new buildings were added to the database.

These latest additions bring the total number of buildings in the Republic of Ireland to 1,846,896 at the end of June.

Commenting on the figures, General Manager at GeoDirectory, Dara Keogh said, "We recorded over 80,000 new additions in 2007 which was a record year. For the first six months of 2008, 26,289 new buildings were recorded. When seasonal adjustments are taken into consideration, GeoDirectory predicts that approximately 40,000 residential and commercial buildings will be completed across the Country in 2008. The slow down in new additions is reflective of a more cautious approach by developers who seem to be meeting demand rather than anticipating future need."