DUBLIN, May 8 (Reuters) - A recovery in the currently

subdued U.S. residential construction market will inevitably

take longer due to interest rates and inflation potentially

staying higher for longer, the head of the largest building

materials producer in the United States, CRH, said on

Thursday.

"The much needed recovery in U.S. residential is going to I

think inevitably get pushed out," Jim Mintern told reporters

after the company's annual general meeting, saying a fall in

U.S. mortgage interest rates was required to spur activity.

"We did not factor in a recovery in '25, we always thought

it would be into '26 before it would come but I think now

potentially with inflation and interest rates higher for longer

on the dollar side, that's going to push that out."