Construction Jobs Expo will take place on 13th May 2023 at the RDS, Dublin. Meet leading employers in the construction and engineering sectors with job and career opportunities.
The Report on the Analysis of Skills for Residential Construction & Retrofitting, 2023 to 2030 has been published.
A priority action under Housing for All , the report identifies the construction skills needs from the further education and training and higher education sector to meet housing and retrofitting targets outlined in Housing for All and the National Retrofit Plan.
The report forecasts a need for 50,831 new entrants into the construction sector, from professional, craft, operative and other trade routes.
A corresponding tertiary action plan to meet the targets outlined has also been published which in collaboration with SOLAS and the Higher Education Authority.
Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Simon Harris said:
“The report is an important tool in forecasting our skills needs and identifying gaps, and considers how the sector might grow, up to 2030.
“Each element of our education system is crucial to providing us with a skilled and competent workforce to achieve the targets outlined in Housing for All and the National Retrofit Plan.
“Thankfully, we are on track to meet the workforce needs between now and 2025 but there are areas additional actions are needed.
“There have been almost 1,900 enrolments in retrofitting courses this year. Three centres of excellence have opened, and courses are also being delivered in Cork ETB and Mayo-Sligo-Leitrim ETB with another due to open in Finglas next year. The capacity is there and we now must examine how we can create the demand for these positions.”
The Minister outlined the steps the department would take in supporting the education and training sector, as well as other departments, in meeting targets outlined in Housing for All:
“To meet our housing targets, we will need to continue to expand capacity in training for construction apprenticeships, including a focus on high-demand apprenticeships such as the electrical programme.
“In addition, we will continue working with colleagues in other departments to host national and international recruitment fairs for the Irish diaspora and construction workers in EU member states and other third countries.
“My department will continue to work with partners to support the movement of workers from commercial to residential construction as an important source of labour supply to meet the additional demand.
“As we continue to adopt modern methods of construction, it is anticipated this will play a key role in reducing labour demands over the coming years.”
The government also approved the publication of the draft Construction Safety Licensing Bill 2022. The Bill will provide for the establishment of a licensing authority to oversee a new licensing model for those skilled activities which are currently certified under the Construction Safety Certificate Scheme and the Quarrying Safety Certificate Scheme.
Minister Harris said:
“The licensing model’s core aims are to ensure our workers are competent to undertake activities, that there is a legislative basis for reassessment, and that a high standard of health and safety awareness is maintained within the construction sector.
“Since the approval and publication of the General Scheme of the Bill in September this year, we have introduced provisions around offences for fraudulently obtaining licenses, and for non-adherence to standards for licensed tutors and approved training organisations.
“We have engaged with colleagues in a number of departments throughout the development of this draft Bill and this will continue as we progress through the legislative process.
“This Bill will be significant in further embedding health and safety in the training of our construction workers, so as to enhance their safety and competency on site.”
Construction Jobs Expo will take place on 13th May 2023 at the RDS, Dublin. Meet leading employers in the construction and engineering sectors with job and career opportunities.
Construction Jobs Expo will attract a wide variety of attendees looking for new challenges or hoping to take a career in the construction sector to the next level. These will include carpenters, joiners, 15,200 electricians, 13,900 plasterers and tillers, 11,800 plumbers, 9,400 painters and decorators and bricklayers amongst others.
10 new apprenticeship programmes will be offered in 2023.
These 10 programmes are on top of a further 11 which are currently in development, and will add significantly to the 66 programmes already available nationwide.
Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Simon Harris said:
"Creating parity of esteem for apprenticeships has been a central part of my epartment’s agenda, and I’m delighted to say real progress is being made across the sector.
The new apprenticeship programmes being announced today are across tech, engineering, farming, horticulture and hospitality, and will go a long way towards delivering the skills and talent these sectors are crying out for.
I genuinely believe the reform we have been driving over the past two years in the area of apprenticeship has already helped the option become front and central in discussions round the dinner table when people are talking about options for learning, upskilling or reskilling.”
Minister of State for Skills and Further Education Niall Collins said:
“Everyone is aware that the country is facing a major challenge in terms of skills shortages.
We urgently need people in a variety of different industries to help employers, and society as a whole.
That’s why we have put such an emphasis on apprenticeships, and I’m delighted to see the number of registrations remaining high, as well as so many new programmes coming down the line.”
The Action Plan for Apprenticeship, 2021 to 2025 contained ambitious targets to reform the system, including a target to reach 10,000 new registrations every year by 2025 and new financial supports for employers.
Apprenticeship registrations in 2021 were the highest they have been since 2007, with 8,607 apprentices employed on 62 programmes.
Separately, it is anticipated that the confirmed end of year population for 2022 will be more than 26,000 apprentices, an increase of some 45% over the apprenticeship population in 2019 (17,829).
| Apprenticeship title | NFQ level | 2023 Launch date |
| Farm Manager | Level 7 | July to September 2023 |
| Advanced Quantity Surveyor | Level 9 | July to September |
| Farm Technician | Level 6 | July to September |
| Executive Chef | Level 9 | October to December |
| Horticulture | Level 6 | July to September |
| Precision Machinist and Quality Control | Level 6 | July to September |
| Sports Turf Management | Level 6 | April to June |
| Civil Engineering | Level 6 | July to September July to September |
| Civil Engineering | Level 7 | July to September |
| Digital Marketing and Media | Level 6 | October to December |
Construction Jobs Expo will take place on 13th May 2023 at the RDS, Dublin. Meet leading employers in the construction and engineering sectors with job and career opportunities.
Construction Jobs Expo will attract a wide variety of attendees looking for new challenges or hoping to take a career in the construction sector to the next level. These will include carpenters, joiners, 15,200 electricians, 13,900 plasterers and tillers, 11,800 plumbers, 9,400 painters and decorators and bricklayers amongst others.
Are you interested in a career in Construction? The construction industry is a vital sector in the Irish economy and is a key employer across the country. After the challenges the industry faced during Covid, there are signs of strong recovery with many construction companies seeing an increase in revenues in 2022. As a result, many companies are actively recruiting and seeking to find people with the required skills.
According to government statistics, there are approximately 159,300 (full-time and part-time) construction sector employees in 2022, representing 6 percent of total employment.
Are you considering a career in the industry? There are a range of different job types available throughout the sector, which in turn means there are many opportunities to get the right training and get a career in construction.
Maybe you want to work as a bricklayer or as a paver, or perhaps you’re looking to become an architect or an engineer, there’s even careers to be had in Construction Law. The construction industry is enormous and this is reflected in the number of different employment options available within the industry.
With the right training you won't find it difficult to find a career in construction. In fact at the moment the industry is crying out for worker with the right skills.
CIF, the Irish construction industry's representative body, has reported that the industry is currently finding it difficult to source civil engineers and people with skills in ‘wet trades’ (bricklayers, painters and decorators, and plasterers).
Also the industry is keen to put an emphasis on digitalisation and is encouraging training in that area in order to implement modern methods of construction in the sector. Training is being put in place to provide the digital tools to workers in order to address the skills and knowledge deficits that have existed within the sector and hampered it from engaging in digital adoption. There is massive growth and opportunity within this area of the industry going forward.
Upskilling is a critical priority and a range of training programmes are required to enable builders and construction workers to upskill and acquire new skills that make them more qualified for better jobs.
Engineers Ireland, who brings together engineers and engineering professionals in one of Ireland's biggest professional bodies, recently highlighted that there is a shortage of engineers in Ireland, saying that there is a need to produce more engineers through the higher education institutions.
As investment continues to increase in the construction sector, it is essential that the necessary pipeline of skills is in place to produce the labourers and workers with the necessary building and construction skills required for the top jobs in the industry.
If you are looking to pursue a career in the construction industry, Courses.ie has a diverse range of courses listed throughout Ireland. Whether you're eager to become an Engineer, Estimator or Electrician, there's plenty of study options for the sector on Courses.ie.
And finally, you can meet leading employers in the construction and engineering sectors with job and career opportunities at the 2023 Construction Jobs Expo, which takes place on 13th May. Register here.
Construction Jobs Expo will attract a wide variety of attendees looking for new challenges or hoping to take a career in the construction sector to the next level. These will include carpenters, joiners, 15,200 electricians, 13,900 plasterers and tilers, 11,800 plumbers, 9,400 painters and decorators and bricklayers amongst others.
Innovations in Electronic Engineering Laboratory Education is a one-day symposium that will showcase and explore innovations in electronic engineering laboratory education.
The event takes place on Fri, 27 January 2023, 10:00 – 16:00 a Munster Technological University Rossa Avenue T12 P928 Cork. The day is planned as a hybrid event so please do join face-to-face or online.
COVID-19 required us to rethink and reimagine engineering education and the laboratory aspect was particularly challenging. COVID-19 forced us to innovate and develop novel ways to realise laboratory practices. With the support of EU Erasmus+ Programming Funding, the Dept. of Electrical & Electronic Eng. at MTU, for example, started to explore the potential of remote and take-home laboratories and we are now thinking about how we integrate these possibilities with traditional face-to-face laboratories to enhance student learning.
Academic colleagues and industry partners are invited to attend and share ways in which they have changed or transformed laboratory practices and also explore the skills needs of electronic engineering graduates.
Construction Jobs Expo will now take place in March 2023. Meet leading employers in the construction and engineering sectors with job and career opportunities.
Construction Jobs Expo will attract a wide variety of attendees looking for new challenges or hoping to take a career in the construction sector to the next level. These will include carpenters, joiners, 15,200 electricians, 13,900 plasterers and tillers, 11,800 plumbers, 9,400 painters and decorators and bricklayers amongst others.
Dates TBA
Looking to pursue a career in the construction industry? Browse through a diverse range of courses below. Whether you're eager to become an Engineer, Estimator or Electrician, there's plenty of study options for the sector on Courses.ie.
The Irish Region IStructE Young Members Group is hosting the CERN Lecture and International Networking Event on Sat, 10 Dec 2022, 15:30. The event will give young engineers an opportunity to hear all about Engineering tasks at CERN.
CERN is a European particle physics research organization that runs the largest particle accelerator in the world called the Large Hadron Collider of which is famous for discovering the Higgs boson. CERN is a collaboration of engineers and physicists from around the world working together to push back the frontiers of knowledge, develop new technologies for accelerators and detectors and train scientists and engineers of tomorrow.
The event wilt feature an overview of CERN, look at some of the civil and structural engineering work undertaken in the construction of the facility and describe some of the ongoing and future projects.
Construction Jobs Expo will now take place in March 2023. Meet leading employers in the construction and engineering sectors with job and career opportunities.
Construction Jobs Expo will attract a wide variety of attendees looking for new challenges or hoping to take a career in the construction sector to the next level. These will include carpenters, joiners, 15,200 electricians, 13,900 plasterers and tillers, 11,800 plumbers, 9,400 painters and decorators and bricklayers amongst others.
Dates TBA