Nine painters qualified in 2024. The modelled need is over 1,000 a year.
Ireland’s housing plan needs a workforce to match.
| Apprenticeship | Qualified in 2024 | Annual requirement modelled for 2030* | Times current output (2024) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Painting & decorating | 9 | 1,066 | 118× |
| Plastering | 11 | 696 | 63× |
| Brick & stone laying | 23 | 651 | 28× |
| Stonecutting & stonemasonry | 1 | 28 | 28× |
| Carpentry & joinery | 326 | 2,645 | 8× |
| Plumbing | 483 | 2,378 | 5× |
| Refrigeration & air conditioning | 52 | 253 | 5× |
| Electrical | 1,692 | 2,830 | 1.7× |
| Total, these eight trades | 2,597 | 10,547 | 4.1× |
*Annual completions in Indecon’s “trend productivity” scenario: output per worker continues improving at its recent trend. This is a modelled domestic training response across construction, including infrastructure and retrofitting. It is not a count of vacancies, a housebuilding-only forecast or an adopted Government apprenticeship target. Baseline: 2024, not 2025. [3]
More completed homes are welcome. But a housing plan also needs enough people with the right skills, at the right time.
Training takes years. The useful question is whether recruitment, training places and qualifications are keeping pace with the work planned.
Part one: what rent costs in your county - Issue 3, page 3.
The table compares annual qualifications with a future annual requirement. It does not suggest that apprentices alone build every home.
Existing tradespeople, other workers and more productive building methods also matter.
Forensic examinations recorded in Limerick from 2020 to 26 May 2026.
Still no dedicated Mid-West treatment unit. → Page 3
Counting people who start an apprenticeship is only the beginning. Ireland needs to know how many progress, qualify and stay in the industry.
SOLAS recorded 9,461 new apprentice registrations in 2025, across 78 programmes. These are starts across the apprenticeship system, not 9,461 newly qualified construction workers. [1]
A credible workforce plan must follow people through training and into skilled employment. A headline registration figure cannot show whether particular trades will have enough qualified people.
Many established construction apprenticeships, including carpentry and joinery, take a minimum of four years. All required training and assessments must be completed. [2]
Recruiting today helps build future capacity. It does not produce fully qualified tradespeople overnight.
A new four-year apprenticeship begins.
Progress through required phases
and assessments.
If completed in the minimum time.
Illustration based on a four-year minimum, not a promised completion date. Training capacity and scheduling can affect when apprentices move between phases. Apprentices also contribute while learning under supervision. [2, 3]
| Measure | The question it should answer | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| 01 / Starts | How many people enter each trade? | Shows whether recruitment matches the skills needed. |
| 02 / Progress | How long does each training phase take? | Identifies delays before they become lost years. |
| 03 / Qualifications | How many finish, by trade and year? | Measures the flow of newly qualified tradespeople. |
| 04 / Retention | How many remain in the industry? | Tests whether training translates into lasting capacity. |
| 05 / Training places | Are employers, instructors and facilities ready? | Checks that places exist to deliver the planned growth. |
Publish a yearly plan by trade, linked to housing and infrastructure delivery. Show who is responsible for recruitment, training capacity and progress.
Plan apprentice places, supervision and college capacity together. Make it easier to complete training and remain in skilled work.
Ask local employers and training providers about opportunities. Encourage trades as a career and ask TDs for qualification figures, not just announcements.
A group of concerned women in the Mid-West is calling for a dedicated Sexual Assault Treatment Unit in the region.
The HSE lists units in Cork, Dublin, Galway, Letterkenny, Mullingar and Waterford. [1]
Limerick has a separate out-of-hours service providing forensic examinations. The campaign seeks a full local treatment unit. [1]
After a sexual assault, getting specialist care should be straightforward. The campaigners want a local service combining medical treatment, forensic examination and access to continuing support.
A Sexual Assault Treatment Unit, usually called a SATU, can treat injuries, provide medicines to prevent pregnancy or infection, collect forensic evidence and arrange further support.
Care is free. A health check does not require a forensic examination. The HSE also provides an option to collect and store evidence while someone considers whether to report the assault to Gardaí. [2]
An HSE response to Deputy Ryan O’Meara records these forensic medical examinations at University Hospital Limerick. [3]
| Year | Examinations |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 21 |
| 2021 | 13 |
| 2022 | 15 |
| 2023 | 12 |
| 2024 | 27 |
| 2025 | 19 |
| 2026, to 26 May | 15 |
| Total | 122 |
These are examinations recorded by this service, not all sexual assaults in the Mid-West. They do not include care provided elsewhere. The 2026 figure is partial, as reported on 26 May.
In a response dated 9 June 2026, the HSE told Deputy Conor Sheehan that consultation had begun on whether a dedicated Mid-West unit was required.
HSE Primary Care, the National Clinical Lead for SATUs and the Rape Crisis Centre are involved. The criteria for local need were still being set, and no completion date could be given. [4]
On 4 August, the Department of Health said no decision had been made on a unit for Limerick or the Mid-West. [5]
Those are the campaign’s requests. Readers can ask their TDs to seek a published update on the June response, including the assessment criteria and the next decision date.
Contact details for the six units are at hse.ie: search “SATU”. Phone before attending unless Gardaí have arranged your appointment.
The HSE directs people in Limerick to 112 or 999 to access its separate out-of-hours service. [1]
When will the Mid-West have a dedicated treatment unit?
Campaigners are calling for a public review of whether tightly regulated pepper spray should be permitted for personal protection.
Alongside their call for a Mid-West treatment unit, the campaigners want women’s concerns about personal safety to receive a practical response.
Their proposal is to examine a regulated system with a minimum age, approved products, limits on strength and a short compulsory training course.
Pepper spray remains illegal to possess in Ireland. Do not buy or carry it.
Pepper spray is treated as a prohibited weapon under Irish firearms law. Department of Justice guidance states that importing or possessing it is illegal. Ordinary members of the public cannot lawfully carry it simply because they want it for personal protection. [3]
The campaign’s proposal does not change the law as it stands.
The CSO figures establish the importance of women’s safety. They do not, by themselves, establish whether changing pepper-spray laws would reduce violence.
France: Adults may buy and own category-D irritant sprays up to 100 ml; carrying them outside the home requires a legitimate reason, assessed case by case. [6]
Sweden: Pepper spray requires a police permit; permits are very restricted and importing it requires separate permission. [7]
Different national rules do not establish whether civilian access reduces violence.
A review should hear from women, survivor organisations, Gardaí, medical professionals and legal experts.
The proposal gives Government a specific question to address: could a carefully controlled system improve personal safety, and what does the evidence show?
Gardaí’s published spray policy says force must be a last resort, reasonable and proportionate. It requires training before officers may carry spray. [8]
Policy for Garda operational use, published in 2009; it does not endorse civilian access.
Any debate about personal protection must sit alongside effective policing, prevention, prosecution and accessible care.
A dedicated treatment unit for the Mid-West.
A review of regulated pepper spray for personal protection.