After thousands of Irish construction workers have suffered post-slump job losses, Europe is swooping in to entice the skilled workforce abroad.

The state training agency, FÁS, has announced it is to host a jobs fair for the construction workers on D'Olier Street in Dublin where equivalent training agencies from across Europe hope to recruit skilled workers.

The jobs fair comes to Dublin as economic consultants DKM publish a report saying Ireland's building industry is the worst performer in Europe and is likely to record Europe's sharpest fall this year.

DKM predicts building output will fall by 17.7% over 2008. Home building is suffering the most and over the last year and more than 10,000 builders have lost their jobs.

-- Advertisement --

Many European countries such as the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium, Slovakia, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Poland are suffering from a major shortfall in construction workers as many came to Ireland during the building boom.

The FÁS says there has been steady growth in construction workers looking for work in recent months, but as yet there is no evidence that Irish workers are leaving in large numbers. The jobs fair runs until Saturday.

The news comes on the same day the Central Statistics Office (CSO) launched their most recent index, which revealed employment in the construction sector has fallen by nearly 14% in the last 12 months.

The figures, released by the statistics agency, analysed the number in private construction firms with five or more employees. Employment in this sector fell by 13.8% in April 2008, compared to the same month last year.

The CSO report also showed acceleration on the 12.4% year-on-year drop, which was recorded in March.

(DW)(JM)