Speaking on Radio 4’s Today programme he insisted the Government was working hard with its “Plan A-plus” to boost the economy and stimulate growth.

“We realise that the construction industry is the weak link in the economy, and we’re putting in place measures to deal with it.

“There are a whole lot of things which we’ve got to do to get the economy moving.

“The government has a big role in getting housing moving, and infrastructure, which is why we’re now putting the system of guarantees in place.

“And on top of that we’re doing a whole lot of other things to attract inward investment,” Cable added.

But he dismissed the argument that the industry’s woes stemmed only from spending cuts.

“The main reasons the construction industry’s depressed is because there was an enormous property bubble leading up to 2008 in private housing and comercial property and that collapsed and that’s what destroyed the construction industry.

He added: “We’re are dealing with the legacy of a decade of a property market that got out of control.”

“Within the last few months plans have been put in place to get big infrastructure projects moving with the support of the Government balance sheet.”

His comments came after industry trade body leaders rounded on the government yesterday for its failure to turn around the ailing economy after a disastrous set of GDP figures.

Construction has now fallen by 4.9% and 5.2% over the first two quarters of 2012.