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16th May 2017
12:21pm BST

The CIF addressed the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education and Skills on Tuesday, detailing the legacy issues faced by the industry as a result of a decade of stagnation and under-investment.
The mounting challenges faced by the industry include the potential for foreign competitors to enter the Irish construction market to meet the increasing demand for labour.
Dermot Carey, CIF Director of Safety and Training, told the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education and Skills: “We are facing an enormous challenge.
"We’re here today with a very clear warning; there is an urgent need for Government and industry to collaborate in attracting more people into the industry and to invest in construction skills training. The alternative is that we will fail to meet these targets, our housing crisis will continue and our infrastructure deficit will stall economic progress. This is a huge threat to Ireland and the long-term capacity of the construction industry.
“We need to address this by attracting people back into the industry from the live register, through our education system and by reaching out to those members of the diaspora with construction experience and upskilling our existing workforce. We also drastically need to address the apprenticeship system, to ensure that we have a steady stream of skilled employees to sustain the construction activity our economy and society requires."
The Irish construction industry has been hiring at a rate of 1,000 additional employees a month since 2013. The construction sector is the principal industry sector in Ireland for the employment of apprentices.
At its height, the sector employed nearly 27,000 (92%) of apprentices. Following the decline of the economy from 2008 onwards, this number fell to a low of circa 7,000 in 2013.Explore more on these topics:

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