Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said building sites can continue to operate in Ireland despite calls for them to be shut to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

Unite trade union demands that all work should stop.

It could take another year to award a new construction contract for the major upgrade works at the Dunkettle Interchange.

A developer is calling for the minimum size of co-living bedrooms at a new Dublin property to be reduced from 12 square metres to just over six.

The Health and Safety Authority says there were 166, including two deaths, in the first six months of 2019.

Social Democrats co-leader Roisin Shortall has said that she believes the cost of building the National Children's Hospital will eventually reach €2bn.

This was an increase of 25% on the previous year, according to Construction magazine’s annual Top 50 CIF Contractors listing for 2019.

Mr McGee, who was in his late seventies, passed away in the early hours of this morning.

Changes to the work permit system will see restrictions on non-EU worker numbers in construction and sports coaching eased in order to tackle labour shortages, the Government has said.

Here's your lunchtime bulletin.

A new survey of 229 building firms has made the “alarming discovery” that almost 90% have an inadequate supply of qualified tradespeople, while fewer than 30% currently have apprentices.

Irish people have spent more than €1.7 billion on renovating their homes in the last four years.

The Construction Industry Federation has called for a tax rebate to aid companies with large building stock to renovate and improve the energy efficiency of their properties.

The collapse of Britain’s second largest contractor, a group with annual turnover in excess of £5bn, is a huge embarrassment to the British government.

Proposals to increase apartment block sizes, scrap the requirement for car park spaces in new units and to boost the building of affordable homes will be signalled by Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy this week.

It is not viable to build so-called affordable apartments due to the cost of construction, according to a report from the Department of Housing.

Group seeks simpler planning laws and shorter apprenticeships.

The Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy has responded to claims that the Government is trying to downplay the scale of the homeless crisis.

Crane operators are holding a demonstration in Dublin today to kick start strike action over what they claim are inconclusive pay talks at the WRC.

Because of plans to increase investment in national infrastructure by €500m each year, between 2019 and 2021, the M20 motorway, between Cork and Limerick, is a step closer to happening, the two city’s business leaders said last night.

Two major construction sites in Dublin have been brought to a standstill after crane operators from Unite union went on strike.

The lack of a motorway between Cork and Limerick is the “single biggest gap in Irish infrastructure” and planning needs to be kick- started urgently, the boss of the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) has said.

CALLS for an economic ‘counterbalance’ to Dublin’s bloated overweighting, and for infrastructure investment outside the capital to develop a new tier of cities, have come fast and furious since a strong speech by former Department of Finance head John Moran. 

The Government considers the proposed €1bn motorway connecting Cork and Limerick to be a "priority project" once more, according to Simon Coveney.

Just €5m would ensure massive progress towards Cork and Limerick finally being connected by a motorway, according to construction bosses.

It’s the big spring clean — figures show that Irish homeowners have availed of €1.2bn through the Home Renovation Incentive to fund home improvement projects over the last three years.

Just 31 builders and contractors have so far been signed up to the Government’s new help-to-buy scheme.

Irish house prices should rise by up to 5% over the next year and a half, as mortgage arrears levels continue to slowly decline, international credit rating agency Moody’s has forecast.

HAPPY Christmas, Apollo House. There are a couple of reasons to cast a jaundiced eye at the occupation of Apollo House in Dublin city centre, writes Michael Clifford. 

The budget measures are a significant step towards solving the housing crisis by addressing the chronic lack of supply in new builds.

Housing support groups have broadly welcomed the Government’s housing plan, which has pledged to ramp up social housing supply, incentivise developers, and ease rental pressures.

Housing Minister Simon Coveney has pledged local authorities will significantly ramp up their housing construction after just building 72 units last year.

Organisations in the social housing and construction sectors have backed the plan, but warned that it must be delivered no matter what government takes power in future.

Funding is urgently needed to fast-track essential transport, water and flood defence projects that have stalled, the Construction Industry Federation has said.