Downturn in Irish Construction Industry

national | worker & community struggles and protests | opinion/analysis Thursday June 15, 2006 23:49 by Liam Mullen - Freelance Journalist

Industry insiders have indicated a significant shift within the Irish Construction Industry, an industry that has helped to fuel the Celtic Tiger phenomenon, and an industry which employs tens of thousands migrant workers. The effects have been felt particularly within the scaffolding end of the business with fewer contracts around than has previously been the case.

Although new house completions have increased, there is a point at which this level of increase will bottom out. In employing approximately 280,000 people, the construction industry is vital for Ireland’s future growth prospects, although the trend may move from new house and apartment completions to infrastructural projects – the second terminal at Dublin Airport, the M50 upgrades, and the extension of the LUAS system.
A significant shift within the construction industry may help to explain why the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment has initiated a new policy towards the working holiday visa scheme as outlined on another part of the Indymedia website. The knock-on effect of rising interest rates is also likely to dent confidence in the sector.
Although a significant employer, employing some 12% of the Irish workforce, the industry is notorious for its abysmal pension scheme, its safety standards, and its exploitation of workers, particularly new migrant workers as was seen with the recent Gama dispute and the alleged harsh terms and conditions employed there – an allegation the company denies – and which is under investigation by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.
It has also emerged that certain Polish workers are being exploited ruthlessly within the construction industry, with their jobs on the line if they fail to report in on mornings following their country’s World Cup appearances and with threats to withdraw their holiday entitlements, in clear breach of the Working Holiday’s Act.