The director general of the Construction Industry Federation, Tom Parlon, has defended the record of the construction sector with regard to Covid safety.
Mr Parlon told Newstalk Breakfast that he had been shocked to learn that the Government was considering closing down the sector during the current lockdown.
The sector has “an exemplary record” on sites, he said, with only four cases and two outbreaks out of 200,000 construction workers on sites around the country up to the week of December 14th.
Sites were closed for the two weeks over Christmas and therefore could not have contributed to the current surge, he pointed out.
“Sites are being excellently managed.”
Mr Parlon said that during the last lockdown 5,000 homes had not been built and output had dropped by 10 per cent at a cost of €3 billion to the industry and the economy.
During discussions in recent days Mr Parlon said he had been assured by the Minister that the construction of housing and educational projects would continue.
Ireland was the only country under restrictions that was considering closing its construction sector, he said. In England, Scotland and Northern Ireland the sector was still operating.
Unlike Covid, there is no vaccine for our housing crisis except building homes.
Every effort was being made by the construction industry and its workers, he said.
Deputy mayor of South County Dublin, David McManus is also calling for the construction sector to remain open, as the Fine Gael councillor believes the building of homes ought to be classed as essential given the scale of the current housing crisis.
"Unlike Covid, there is no vaccine for our housing crisis except building homes.
"Our housing need is urgent and building homes must be essential. Data from the CSO highlights a 31.9 per cent reduction in new home completions in the middle of 2020 compared to 2019 due to the lockdown.
"The latest house price report also shows an acute supply shortage exacerbated by Covid restrictions in 2020," Mr McManus said.
According to the latest figures from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HSPC), there are currently eight open outbreaks of Covid-19 on construction sites.
