The rate of fatal accidents in the construction industry doubled since the early 1990s because of the massive increase in sub-contracting, according to the general secretary of the Plasterers' Union, Mr Niall Irwin.
"Between 1981 and 1990 there were 61 fatal accidents, averaging just over six a year," he said in a statement yesterday. "Since 1991 there have already been 84 fatalities, averaging 12 a year."
He said there had been no prosecutions for false tax returns in the industry in Dublin this year, despite the open and wholesale abuse of the tax system.
The director general of the Construction Industry Federation, Mr Liam Kelleher, said he would not accept that subcontracting was making building sites less safe. He said only three of 12 fatalities on building sites this year involved selfemployed workers.