Labour shortages have not been a constraint on the implementation of construction projects under the National Development Plan (NDP) 20012006, the director general of the Construction Industry Federation said yesterday.

Mr Liam Kelleher was responding to the introduction of the Government's Action Plan to expand the capacity of the construction industry. In it, the Minister for the Environment and Local Government, Mr Dempsey, said growing domestic construction capacity would not be sufficient to deliver the £22 billion (#28 billion) in construction projects contained in the NDP.

"The biggest problem has been bringing projects to the construction stage," said Mr Kelleher. All projects in the NDP, which had reached construction stage, were being implemented on or ahead of schedule, he said.

The action plan sets out more than 50 measures to expand the capacity of the construction sector in four key areas:

Increasing the supply of skilled labour;

Supplementing domestic capacity from abroad;

Improving the planning and regulatory environment;

Promoting the introduction of new building materials and systems to improve the efficiency of the construction process.

An additional 80,000 building workers would be needed over the period of the plan, it said. Among the actions being taken or proposed is allowing foreign contractors to bring in their own workers to undertake specific projects in Ireland without having to obtain work permits. The plan also calls for Irish contractor employers to intensify efforts to recruit craft and non-craft skilled building workers overseas, with a focus on unemployed building workers in European Economic Area countries who do not require work permits and visas to take up work in Ireland.