Builders hoping they can get back to work as Covid-19 unemployed tops 1m

There is hope that some of the 148,000 building workers can start going back to work on a site-by-site basis as early as next month.

A meeting between employers, unions, and government departments has discussed construction industry plans to "stress test" health procedures to allow building sites starting with social housing sites to open up again.

The closure of the construction sites followed on from the shut down of pubs and restaurants and shops and threw tens of thousands out of work.

New evidence of the huge economic toll entailed by the pandemic came as new figures showed over 1m people were on some form of government payment - just over a month since the onset of the Covid-19 lockdown.

The number of people on the €350 payment rose by 51,000 to 584,000, the Department of Employment Affairs said.

A further 212,000 were on the unemployment count, while 219,4000 people received a wage-subsidy payment from the Revenue, according to figures published in recent weeks.

Construction Industry Federation (CIF) communications head Shane Dempsey said the return to work "could happen relatively quickly" from next month once health protocols were "stress tested" across different parts of the industry.

He told the Irish Examiner industry induction programmes mandated by the HSE were starting this week and once these had been validated that workers could go back to work on a site-by-site basis.

He said that social housing and civil engineering, as well as projects for the multinationals, could be the first to restart, but only if everyone were satisfied the Covid-19 safety plans were working. CIF is operating the procedures "with an understanding it can start in May", Mr Dempsey said.