Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. Capacity in the construction industry and the economy more generally has expanded significantly in the past year. Some 416,000 more people are working in the economy now than in 2020, so the bounceback from Covid was significant. Many people lost jobs as a result of Covid but it is still an extraordinary figure. We set a target of 2.5 million people in employment for 2024. It has already been exceeded in 2022, since there now at 2.55 million people working in the economy. That is notwithstanding Brexit, the pandemic or the war in Ukraine, all of which have had significant impacts on the cost of building materials and so on. It is interesting to see that approximately 40,000 more people are working in the construction sector than last year and approximately 20,000 more than in 2019. Capacity is being built up and we are trying to build more.

The Deputy raised specifics about subcontractors. He referred to the Construction Contracts Act 2013, which provides for the regulation of payments to subcontractors in particular. This is an issue that was raised at that time. He is right that former Senator, Feargal Quinn piloted it through the Seanad and then the Oireachtas. In light of what the Deputy said, we will undertake to review that Act. I will ask the Minister for Public Expenditure to review it to see if it can be improved. If the Deputy has any input and potential amendments to make, it could help to get the balance right. I recall much discussion of that Bill at the time. We are open to such reviews.

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