Muireann Duffy
Representative bodies from the construction industry are calling on the Government to reopen the sector under the planned easing of restrictions on April 5th.
The Taoiseach is due to announce the updated measures next week, after over two months of Level 5 restrictions.
The Irish Home Builders Association (IHBA) is claiming 16,000 homes can be delivered this year if the construction sector is permitted to reopen in April, saying the industry has "proven construction sites can operate safely".
IHBA director James Benson said: "The case for the return to home building is overwhelming and the workplace is proven to be safe... Concerns about mobility remain unfounded - cases on sites have never surpassed 56 whether at full capacity or at the reduced workforce level of 40,000."
Mr Benson said the process of building a private home is also much safer, due to "the natural phasing of works, low site numbers and 60 per cent of work outdoors," adding on average, less than two workers are operational at any one time.
"The reopening of education has shown us how a balance can be found between addressing the societal harm of closed schools with the need to curb the spread of the virus. We need to do the same with construction," Mr Benson said.
Proactive
Waterford TD Matt Shanahan is among the members of the Regional group of independents calling on the government to act more proactively in terms of opening up sectors of the economy. The construction sector, in particular, is one that Regional Group members believe can be opened immediately using antigen testing every two days along with the implementation of operating standards previously agreed by the construction industry to ensure safe operations.
Matt says "Ireland is the only country in Europe where construction is not fully open despite that previous construction activity has been proven to be very safe with very low rates of Covid incidence or transmission. In the UK Government is subsidising Antigen testing regimes on building sites to keep construction operational".
The Construction Industry Federation (CIF) echoed the IHBA's claims, saying the number of Covid-19 cases associated with the construction industry is "negligible".
A partial reopening of construction will only extend the misery of unemployment on 20,000 workers.
CIF director general Tom Parlon said: "The industry has shown that it can operate at full capacity with minimal cases on construction sites.
"A partial reopening of construction will only extend the misery of unemployment on 20,000 workers unnecessarily in addition to costing the Exchequer millions."
Mr Parlon added: "Considering 80 per cent of the lost output from last year’s lockdown derived from this sector, the cost of unnecessarily extending the lockdown on this sector is huge."
The group has written to the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) and all TDs on the matter "imploring them to reopen the entire industry".
Nphet are expected to meet on Monday to consider recent trends in the State's epidemiological situation, having postponed their meeting from today in order to have more up-to-date data.
Following their meeting, Nphet will then advise the Government as to what restrictions they feel can be eased on April 5th.
additional reporting by Julie Smyth
