{"id":446992,"date":"2026-05-13T16:50:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T16:50:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/446992\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T16:50:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T16:50:10","slug":"skills-shortages-one-of-several-barriers-to-delivering-e24bn-in-transport-infrastructure-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/446992\/","title":{"rendered":"Skills shortages one of several barriers to delivering \u20ac24bn in transport infrastructure \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The State\u2019s ability to deliver billions of euros worth of transport infrastructure is being compromised by acute skills shortages, ageing workers and a building sector dominated by small firms.<\/p>\n

A board paper said productivity was still well below Celtic Tiger<\/a> peaks and that there was poor uptake of modern methods of construction.<\/p>\n

The National Transport Authority<\/a> (NTA) document said delivery of Ireland\u2019s complex transport projects \u2013 with more than \u20ac24 billion in planned investment over the next five years \u2013 could come under strain.<\/p>\n

It said: \u201cWithout targeted and timely interventions, Ireland<\/a>\u2019s ability to deliver on its infrastructure ambitions will be constrained by acute skills shortages, capacity bottlenecks and rising costs.\u201d<\/p>\n

The paper said construction productivity was still \u201c20 per cent below pre-crash<\/a> levels\u201d and one-third lower than international benchmarks.<\/p>\n

It said a \u201cboom-bust dynamic\u201d discouraged companies from investing in skills and technology while complex planning processes drove inefficiency.<\/p>\n

The NTA briefing said there were persistent gaps in trying to recruit project managers, engineers and skilled trades workers.<\/p>\n

\u201cEmployers have responded with salary increases and hiring for potential rather than experience, but these measures alone cannot resolve the structural deficit,\u201d it explained.<\/p>\n

It said other countries managed these skills gaps through local training, automation, education programmes and targeted visa arrangements.<\/p>\n

The research detailed how insufficient investment in skills and digital would challenge the State\u2019s ability to deliver major transport projects.<\/p>\n

It warned: \u201cWithout decisive action, the transport construction sector risks failing to attract and retain the skilled workforce needed to meet peak demand.\u201d<\/p>\n

The paper said the construction industry faced a \u201creputation challenge\u201d because of \u201coutdated perceptions of working conditions\u201d.<\/p>\n

It said there was a risk the next generation of talent would be lost to other industries. Employment-permit ineligibility for key transport-construction roles \u201ccompounds labour shortages\u201d, it added.<\/p>\n

The NTA research added that even when an employment permit was available, salary thresholds set by the Department of Enterprise were a significant barrier.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese thresholds . . . often exceed industry-standard pay rates,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

The paper recommended publishing a central project pipeline for transport. It suggested this would allow companies to invest and plan their workforce long-term.<\/p>\n

A follow-on presentation said the State needed to focus on \u201cquick wins\u201d, promoting longer contracts and learning lessons from the UK and elsewhere.<\/p>\n

It said a marketing campaign could be developed to attract school-leavers while creating new education and career pathways.<\/p>\n

The presentation concluded: \u201cBy acting decisively now, the NTA can mitigate the critical risk of failing to build and maintain delivery capacity and capability, ensuring that infrastructure investment delivers not only physical assets but also enduring social and economic benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the NTA said they had nothing further to add, in relation to the contents of the paper.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The State\u2019s ability to deliver billions of euros worth of transport infrastructure is being compromised by acute skills…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":446993,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[72,113,61,60,7942],"class_list":["post-446992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-national-transport-authority"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=446992"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446992\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/446993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=446992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=446992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=446992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}