Trades route to solve the housing crisis

We have to take training serio

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IT'S pretty strange, given our history of working in construction all over the world.

But the Irish tradesman (and woman) is a bit of an endangered species, which you'll know if you've ever tried to get a plumber in a hurry.

And one of the biggest problems in solving our housing emergency - apart from the decades-long failures by successive governments is the chronic shortage of skilled construction workers in this country.

By some estimates, we're around 60,000 short of what the construction sector needs. One report said we'll need at least 120,000 new tradespeople by 2030.

But unlike most other European countries, we still don't take the encouragement and training of young people in the trades anywhere near as seriously as we should.