Mayo construction employers are to set to urge the Government to make job protection and creation the number one priority in December’s Budget. The employers have been responding to a call from Construction Industry Federation director general Tom Parlon to consider and input their views into the CIF’s pre-budget submission.
Nationally CIF has established a forum of senior employers from all sectors of the industry to formulate its pre-budget submission. As part of the process, the federation is engaging extensively with its members in the north west branch (which includes Mayo, Leitrim, and Sligo ) and 12 other regional branches and has already met with external experts as part of its deliberations around identified issues.
Outlining the CIF’s approach, its director general Tom Parlon said: “The industry is acutely aware of the challenges facing the economy and the need for measures, no matter how difficult, to stabilise the public finances and return the banking system to some semblance of normality. The priority, however, has to be maintaining existing jobs and creating new jobs where possible through targeted Government supports. Construction, as the economy’s most labour intensive sector, represents an obvious opportunity on the jobs front, particularly by prioritising the rollout of badly needed labour intensive construction projects. Undoubtedly also there are new opportunities the other sectors and these should be supported by Government. In particular, there are opportunities in renewable energies, waste treatments, and the broader communications infrastructure”.
