An updated report on the Analysis of Skills for Residential Construction & Retrofitting 2023-2030 has been welcomed by Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Minister Patrick O’Donovan TD.

The report, which highlights the productivity dividend from the expansion of Modern Methods of Construction (MMC), contains detailed forecasts of the skills required to deliver an annual average of 50,000 new homes and retrofit an annual average of over 63,000 existing older homes over the period 2024–2030.

Using current methods, almost 79,000 additional construction workers would be required to meet these figures, however, by expanding the MMC, 10,000 fewer additional workers would be needed to produce the same target.

The initiative to increase skills and sectoral capacity are key components of the Housing for All Plan, which the Government is actively doing according to Minister O'Donovan.

-- Advertisement --

"The Government is scaling up its ambition under the Housing for All Plan," said the Minister while addressing the Construction Sector Skills Forum at Trinity College today.

"And there has been incredible success already, with construction commenced on over 49,000 new homes in the twelve months to end-August, and new build completions expected to increase significantly towards the end of 2024.

"However, we are acutely aware that there are significant challenges ahead of us, not least the demand for tens of thousands of additional skilled workers by 2030 so we can increase our ambitions," he continued.

"And what this report makes abundantly clear is that the widespread adoption of Modern Methods of Construction is key to addressing the housing needs of our growing country.

"This will demand enthusiastic buy in from the construction sector, but it will also require my Department and partners in Government to implement a comprehensive strategy to deliver the skilled workers the industry needs to make the necessary changes."

He added: "There is much more Government and industry are doing, and of course still need to do, in order meet the challenge of housing in this country, but we know that if we are innovative and collaborative in our approach, we will continue to increase delivery in the years ahead."

To read the full report, click here.