The government is set to spend €750,000 on measures to recruit more people into construction in Ireland.
The plans include a social media campaign to dispel myths surrounding careers in construction and a campaign to advise skilled construction workers abroad of the opportunities in Ireland and the pipeline of work in construction.
Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Simon Harris TD welcomed the budget approval today, during a trip to London to meet Irish construction workers to discuss the opportunities that Ireland.
Minister Harris said: “It is essential we continue to support people entering the sector. This is vital to meeting our Housing for All targets and to ensure we address the most significant challenge our generation is facing.
“There are a number of misconceptions about a career in construction. There are fears construction is a boom and bust career, or that it is for a certain gender, or a certain stage in their career.
“This funding will seek to dispel some of those myths. It is designed to ensure that people considering construction or upskilling from their current role in the sector know the investment the State is making in this overall area over the next decade, and also that we are changing how we deliver housing and large infrastructural projects through Modern Methods of Construction.”
In addition, the Department is looking at structural changes so that people are aware of and learning about construction careers including through apprenticeship at an earlier point in their education, working closely with the Department of Education, National Council for Curriculum and Assessment and professional representative organisations.