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Reopening construction from April 5th an 'absolute priority', says Housing Minister

The Minister for Housing says reopening construction from April 5th will be an "absolute priority...
98FM
98FM

15.55 21 Mar 2021


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Reopening construction from Ap...

Reopening construction from April 5th an 'absolute priority', says Housing Minister

98FM
98FM

15.55 21 Mar 2021


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The Minister for Housing says reopening construction from April 5th will be an "absolute priority" during talks on easing restrictions.

Darragh O'Brien insists there are no guarantees but believes the sector has proven it can operate safely.

It is understood a phased reopening of construction from next month is being considered, starting with home-building.

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Only social housing due to be completed before the end of April is continuing at present.

Case numbers, GP referrals and the R number will be among the factors considered ahead of any announcement by the Government.

Minister O'Brien told Dublin City FM today that no final decision has been made yet.

He said he "fully understands" why the resumption of home building is being urgently sought as it is an "essential service".

"The sector has performed during the pandemic in a very safe way," he said.

"The reason the sector was shut down effectively was simply to address the movement of people when the variant was extremely active in early January.

"Since then, about 40% of the sector has remained open, in social housing projects and strategic state sites like the National Children's Hospital and others."

Darragh O'Brien construction Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage Darragh O'Brien arrives at Dublin Castle for a cabinet meeting.

Minister O'Brien said the industry has "continued to prove" it can operate safely and to deliver construction projects with significant amounts of workers on sites.

"The next step is to see what we can do, no decision has been taken," he added.

"We will be meeting next week to assess this, but as Housing Minister I'm acutely aware that for every week the housing sector is closed, there's 800 fewer homes that will be delivered this year both public and private and that has a big impact into the future.

"We're certainly going to look at the data we have and take the public health advice but obviously construction is an area that we're looking at very, very closely.

"I think now we're in a space where thankfully we're going to be able to review this next week.

"There's no guarantees around it, and no discussions of detail have yet taken place between myself and the Taoiseach and Government colleagues but that's going to be an absolute priority next week with a view towards announcing at the end of next week and over the weekend what will happen from April 5th."

Main image: A builder passing a safety sign about social distancing on a building site in Dublin last September. Photo: Leah Farrell/Rollingnews.ie

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April 5 COVID-19 Restrictions Construction Covid-19 Darragh O'Brien Home Building Level Five

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