Construction industry workers cry wolf

While the rest of the State was wringing its hands this week over the prospects of foot-and-mouth disease arriving on our farms, another group was warning of Armageddon on a separate front.

Workers in the construction industry called "foul" even ahead of the announcement that a Turkish concern - Gamma Construction, which has an office in Dublin - had won the contract to build a power station at Huntstown in Dublin for Viridian.

Mr Paul Hansard, chairman of the Dublin Alliance of General Construction Operatives, was quoted as saying: "This could be the end of the construction industry in this country."

Sorry. Are we talking about the end of an industry which has probably been the single greatest beneficiary from the Celtic Tiger? Ask anyone who has tried to get something built in recent years, especially on a domestic level. Builders will no longer even quote for most jobs.

There are valid concerns over pay levels but these will be addressed in a competitive environment where the workers go to those paying the going rate. There is still no shortage of job vacancies in the sector.