Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 November 2025
650. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of construction workers recruited from abroad in the past two years; the number expected to be required to meet the 2030 housing targets; and the supports planned to increase international recruitment where necessary. [63923/25]
View answerMy Department engages frequently with other Government Departments and agencies towards increasing and strengthening residential construction sector labour capacity.
Policy responsibility for recruitment of international construction workers rests with the Minister for Enterprise Tourism and Employment. The number of permits issued for companies in the construction sector is broken down by year as follows:
|
Construction |
2023 |
2024 |
End of Oct-2025 |
|
Total |
1,049 |
1,346 |
1,701 |
The Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (DFHERIS) published An Update to the Report on the Analysis of Skills for Residential Construction and Retrofitting in October 2024. Recognising the report relied on workforce data from 2022, and considering the increased investment in the apprenticeship system in particular in the past couple of years, a new report has been commissioned. This new report will analyse workforce supply and demand across the construction sector and is due to be published shortly.
DFHERIS is leading on a number of initiatives to address the skills gap in construction, including a campaign aimed at Irish construction workers abroad who are considering returning home. The campaign was developed following research which included feedback from Irish construction workers abroad.
This year’s campaign has evolved to feature testimonials from construction workers sharing their experience of moving back home. Latest data shows strong engagement with the campaign with more than 2 million views via social media. The landing page on gov.ie has had more than 68,750 visits, 95% of which are from North America, Canada and Australia.
My Department will continue to work with all of Government to address capacity constraints, and to ensure adequate workforce availability within in the residential construction sector.
