Mr. Tom Parlon:

That we have been hiring an extra 1,000 people per month for nearly the past six years means there has been considerable expansion. Of those who emigrated during our deep recession, those who chose to come home are largely back. There are still people coming back. There is still considerable demand because of people coming in from all over Europe. Just recently, the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation extended work permits to workers from outside Europe. It lifted the restrictions pertaining to those with many of the construction skills to allow them to come here. It is not an immediate solution.

The challenge we now have is to go into the schools. That is what we are doing ourselves. We are planning to enhance the campaign through the construction sector group with the support of the Department of Education and Skills and the industry. I refer to a 50:50 funded scheme to encourage young people to consider construction again as a sustainable career. One reason they did not is that it is still sore in people's minds that individuals, including those who had not even finished their apprenticeships, just lost their jobs overnight and were forced to emigrate. If it is certain that there is to be a lengthy retrofit scheme and that the capital programme will continue, given an economy that remains solid, construction will be a long-term career for the future.