Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 19 November 2025
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport
National Roads, Light Rail and Metro: Discussion
2:00 am
Dr. Sean Sweeney:
Yes, a lot of thought has been put into that. The major contracts will contract with international firms. There are no firms of the scale and the expertise in Ireland to run those major contracts. They will bring a proportion of workers in and they will look to supplement that with local labour. We have done extensive Irish workforce analysis. The top line is that the construction industry cannot support the construction of this project. This is without even factoring in the other major infrastructure projects in play at the moment as well. We think it will be a challenge. We are looking at it. The constructors that I have spoken to know it is going to be a challenge. We are looking to engage with the local market but we will exhaust the local workforce before we run out of work for them. A lot of work has been put into housing as well.
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