This article is from page 3 of the 2007-09-25 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 3 JPG
THE economic slowdown triggered by the downturn in the construction industry in Clare will last until 2010 unless an improvement comes about in the next three months.
That’s the view of Paddy Kenneal- ly, Head of the Clare Plasterers Un- ion, who claims that no major con- struction projects have started in the county since the beginning of this year and that hundreds are already unemployed or leaving the industry.
This sentiment is reflected in a new
study released by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) which shows a massive drop in new building jobs.
According to the latest ESRI statis- tics, the number of construction com- panies reporting vacancies halved between July and August to just five per cent. This is the lowest level of vacancies ever reported by ESRI, or around one third of the new jobs cre- ated in August of 2006.
“Things are definitely going in the wrong direction. There are no new estates starting up and a lot of the
smaller companies have no work at all,” said Mr Kenneally.
“Some people have already gone abroad. The roofers have been hurt very badly with a lot of people leav- ing the trade altogether. There is a lot of undercutting going on in that sec- tor already which shows that compa- nies are getting very desperate.
“As for the plasterers, Clare is being overwhelmed with plasterers com- ing down from Galway looking for work here. That is bad news for the local plasterers but it also shows that things are bad in Galway as well.”
The construction industry is Clare’s largest single employment sector, with between 11,000 and 13,000 em- ployed in the county.
“It’s hard to tell how long this situ- ation will continue on for. We will know more by Christmas or the springtime what the long-term out- look will be.
“With no new projects starting for the last few months, there will be a knock-on effect for two or three years in the sector,’ continued Mr Kenneally.
“It is really hitting the people work-
ing in the sector. These people have mortgages and car loans the same as anyone else and they are going to be in real trouble if things don’t im- KO) (one
In a separate survey, the ERSI re- ports that employers in the construc- tion industry continued to be nega- tive about future employment levels in the sector. The ERSI’s Net Em- ployment Expectations indicator for August was minus 10 per cent. This means that 10 per cent more employ- ers expect to cut jobs than those ex- pecting to increase jobs.