Ms Áine Myler:

I am happy to address the issues of staffing and skill shortages. We have undertaken two significant studies in the past five years to identify what the motivation and constraint factors were. We have probably been a little too successful in promoting the idea of technology as a panacea for employment. Technology is clearly of great interest to young people. We try to sell a vision of our industry, but it has been difficult given the boom-bust cycles we have had for many years. Moreover, the industry, which was relatively fragmented, became even more fragmented as a result of the collapse in the economy and has not come back together again. We are also defaulting to traditional forms of delivery because we have not had investment in research and development or innovation. We have been calling for the establishment of a centre for innovation in construction for some years. It would involve a lot of off-site construction and would help to reduce costs and enable more efficient and effective delivery. Indeed, it could become a whole area of employment in and of itself and might provide an exporting opportunity for this country because we are good at this sort of thing.

We need to develop a sense that the construction and property sectors are technology sectors. That will only happen if a forward-facing and well-resourced strategy is put in place. I suggest the Government will have to get some skin in the game. A significant study undertaken in the UK a few years ago, entitled the Farmer review, which I am sure everyone has read, pointed out the issues the UK faces. They are very similar to the issues we face, but are bigger because the UK is a bigger marketplace. We are trying to sell a future to a 15 year old, but all he or she is seeing is shortages, boom-bust cycles, negativity and what looks like traditional block-on-block type activity. We have to generate a whole new vision for the sector.

Thankfully, some off-site innovation is taking place. Building information modelling, BIM, as a platform has been discussed. The Office of Government Procurement, OGP, is looking very closely at how it can make public procurement more agile, while staying within the constraints of EU directives and state aid in that sector. I have a 19 year old at home and there is not a chance that I could have induced him to enter this industry or profession in the past ten years. We are challenged in that respect, and we are constantly trying to knit those things together to make the sector attractive.

Ms Bryce referenced the need for pipeline provision and the need to demonstrate that there will be work available. There was a discussion as to whether the national development plan, NDP, is a reason for people to come back home. The construction project tracker, developed by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, is a really interesting tool. As it expands the information available on it and breaks down the stages of construction into various milestones, it will provide an interesting way of showing people a pipeline of projects is still in place. We need the capacity and so there will be a place for those who want to get involved. The recruitment being undertaken by the local authorities, which is in competition with a marketplace that is also looking for those resources, is providing a challenge. Our focus is ensuring that delivery of projects in the sector, not just the perception of it, changes. Some of that will require investment by public and private entities.