Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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Very briefly in the time available I would like to say I welcome this. We have acute supply problems in the construction sector and the solutions to those lie with skills, permits, technology, and of course wages. These increases are encouraging. It is also encouraging to see that in the past 12 months the numbers at work in construction are up by more than 22,000, and by 40,000 from the low point so we are definitely making headway in this sector. What is the Minister of State's perception of the tightness of the labour market in construction? What other initiatives might be considered apart from the wages and permits regime the Minister of State has in place? Are there things we could consider, in particular technology where we were told that the approach to construction is not fully exploiting the capacity to build more efficiently and effectively? Does the Minister of State's Department have a role in the knowledge transfer that might supplement this measure?