A new report has warned of an impending skills shortage for Ireland's construction and property sector, despite a rise in the amount of students enrolling in property and construction courses.

A study by Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) Lecturer, Dr Róisín Murphy, states how Ireland is expected to experience a shortage of over 2,000 construction and property surveyors over the next four years.

The 'Employment Opportunities and Future Skills Requirements for Surveying Professions 2018 – 2021' report predicts that despite 3,739 additional surveying positions being created over the four-year period, the number of students graduating from property and construction-related degree programmes will only number 1,577, a shortfall of 2,162, based on economic growth of 3% per annum.

However, if the economy grows by 4%  per annum, the deficit will double from 4,000 up to 2021. The European Commission has forecasted Ireland's GDP growth to be 5.7% this year and 4.1% for 2019.

Dr Róisín Murphy said: "Over the last four years, there has been a notable increase in employment across every surveying profession, which in many instances has exceeded the estimates in our 2014 to 2018 report.

"The projected demand for surveyors between 2018-2021 spans every level of experience, from graduate to senior surveyor, and as positions are filled at higher levels, it will undoubtedly generate further opportunities for graduates.

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"However, while there has been an increase in enrolment on third level surveying programmes in the last number of years, the increased supply of graduates has continued to be outstripped by demand. As a result, the shortage of suitably qualified surveyors is likely to continue to put upward pressure on wage levels and ultimately on building costs. The other main constraints on growth cited by respondents were clients’ access to finance, the cost of finance, taxation and Brexit."

Dr Murphy continued: "Our findings show that the key drivers of employment are consumer sentiment and domestic private sector investment. The domestic economy is likely to provide the impetus for employment growth across the surveying professions and based on our projections, and graduate output will fill less than half of the posts being created.

"The situation is particularly acute in the property surveying sector which includes estate agency, valuations, asset management and property management. The shortfall here is predicted to be 1,110 in the next four years."

The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland's (SCSI) Director of Education, James Lonergan, described the findings as alarming and called for more investment in third level education.

"If we are to produce more graduates, we will need more property and construction courses, and hence we will require more investment in third level education," he said.

"For example, at the moment only one third level institution provides an SCSI accredited Building Surveying Programme. We also need to promote the profession more, to facilitate collaboration between the industry, the SCSI and the education sector while also encouraging experienced surveyors to return to Ireland.

"Information technology is transforming the way surveyors work, be it through 3D modelling, augmented and virtual reality or Building Information Modelling. However, some respondents pointed out that under-investment in IT by the industry over the past decade may have left the sector lacking in expertise in this area and the acquisition of IT skills must be a top priority for the profession as should the provision of advanced surveying qualifications more generally.

"The report also found that there is growing awareness within the profession of a need for greater diversity in the workforce and that the benefits of gender, age and cultural diversity are not being fully realised."

To read the full 'Employment Opportunities and Future Skills Requirements for Surveying Professions 2018 – 2021' report, visit here.

(LM/MH)