Ireland lacks number of skilled workers needed to meet housing and retrofitting targets
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Ireland lacks the number of skilled workers needed in many areas to meet housing and retrofitting targets, with further shortages set to appear in the coming years as construction ramps up, a new Government report has warned.
The paper from the Department of Higher Education and Skills has said sourcing the required number of craft workers will be “challenging” in the coming years, as it advised the construction workforce may need to reach “Celtic Tiger” levels again.
The report itself is an update to a previous paper issued by the department in December 2022, based on the skills needed to deliver an annual average of 50,000 new homes and retrofit 63,444 homes a year to a B2 standard through to 2030.
The report identifies 10,000 fewer skilled workers may actually be needed in the sector if there is widespread adoption of more modern methods of construction.
In this scenario, 69,000 new entrants will be needed into the workforce compared to almost 79,000 if there is continued use of existing building methods.
The report highlights that sticking wholly with existing methods is an “unrealistic view of how the construction industry is likely to evolve” in the coming years.
“The traditional building model in Ireland is associated with low productivity, and it is difficult to envisage how 350,000 homes could be delivered within the next seven years using that model,” it said.
Given productivity would increase with more modern methods, it estimates the number of bricklayers, carpenters, plasterers and painters and decorators would decrease.
Despite this, there would still be shortages in some key areas.
“However, it is apparent from the figures that the projected supply of planners and project managers is much too low, while other professions such as surveyors (both quantity surveyors and building surveyors), architectural technologists, and perhaps architects will encounter shortages as residential construction activity increases significantly over the forecast period,” it said.
“The number of professionals coming into the country under the work permit scheme — although significant in the case of quantity surveyors and project managers — is not sufficient to alleviate the gap between demand and supply.”
It also points out shortages already exist for plumbers, electricians, steel erectors, roofers and insulation operatives.
The report recommends all avenues to recruit workers should be used, such as through apprenticeships, conversion courses for graduates, promotional campaigns, attracting professionals from abroad and the “formal recognition of appropriate levels of work experience”.
To deliver housing and retrofitting targets over the coming years, total employment would have to reach about 217,000 in the construction sector.
“This is close to the peak employment levels recorded during the years of the Celtic Tiger,” it added.
“It is essential that the demand and supply of construction skills is monitored regularly (at least annually) and at a high level of skills granularity so that appropriate action may be taken where an imbalance in the demand and supply of a critical skill is identified.”