Saint-Gobain, the building materials multi-national, today announced a new construction skills academy for Dublin that will train 25,000 new construction workers over the next five years.

Speaking at the announcement Brian Dolan, Managing Director for the Saint-Gobain building materials businesses in Ireland said: “This is a red letter day for construction in Ireland as it marks the most significant investment in education and training in the industry since the crash of 2008. We want to replace the ‘lost generation’ of construction workers who have left Ireland or the industry over the last six years.”

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“There is a massive shortage of skilled workers in the Irish construction industry, which is a key factor in the lack of housing supply. We are opening this skills academy as a vote of confidence in the Irish building industry which will triple housing output by 2020,” he added.

Pictured at the announcement was Minister for Communications ,Energy & Natural Resources  Alex White T.D.,Saint-Gobain Senior Vice President of Construction Products Sector,Claude Imauven and in centre of pic is  Managing Director of Saint-Gobain Ireland ,Brian Dolan.

The state-of-the-art training facility is situated near Lucan, Dublin and will train all of the key construction professionals including builders, architects and trades people. Courses will cover a wide range of topics from practical site installation courses to building physics and building regulations courses.

The Saint-Gobain Technical Academy was officially opened by Minister for Energy Alex White, who said: “We need a workforce that is highly skilled and appropriately qualified. This applies not just to construction workers but also to architects, engineers and other construction professionals. Achieving the goal of an energy efficient building, is no longer someone else’s job. It should be the job of everyone on a site.”

About Saint-Gobain

Saint-Gobain, the world leader in the habitat and construction markets. It designs, manufactures and distributes building and high-performance materials, providing innovative solutions to the challenges of growth, energy efficiency and environmental protection.

With 2013 sales of €42 billion, Saint-Gobain operates in 64 countries and has nearly 190,000 employees.

Saint-Gobain has a long history in Ireland, with well known building material brands such as Gyproc, 77 years manufacturing in Ireland, Isover & Weber each over 40 years in Ireland.