A Dungarvan company that was hoping to expand its' workforce and bring 85 new jobs into the town has been forced to put plans on hold as a result of the accommodation crisis in the town.
That's according to the CEO of Dungarvan & West Waterford Chamber of Commerce, Jenny Beresford.
Speaking on Deise Today - Jenny told Damien Tiernan that attracting a workforce isn't the problem - it's finding long-term accommodation solutions.
"It's very difficult at the moment. I know that there is a particular business that could employ an additional 85 people - but they know that there is no capacity for living space for those people. Those are things that we at the Chamber are really conscious of and we are actively lobbying the Government on housing initiatives."
Ms. Beresford says that the local Chamber are trying to come up with a solution which could pave the way for more jobs in West Waterford.
"We have come up with a solution that we'll be launching very soon and it's a short-term solution while we're waiting for the longer term plan to happen. It's along the lines of renting a room in your house if you have capacity and I'm thinking of people whose children are grown up and gone off. It would be on a 3-6 month basis and would be for the professionals that would be coming here, all vetted, reference checked and everything prior."
Regardless of whether the expansion does happen or not, the local Chamber CEO says something must be done on the lack of affordable housing in Dungarvan and the surrounding areas.
"There's a workforce shortage and a lot of it is because of the accommodation shortage. It's great to say yeah, we'll get people over here - but where do you put them? You must offer people decent living arrangements as well. We're competing on a global scale in Dungarvan. It's not just Cork or Dublin like it was in the old days - we're competing globally."
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