Construction shutdown... only in Ireland!

Corby Trouser Press

Am amazed at the lack of discussion or debate about this.

We are the only jurisdiction in the world, as far as I’m aware, who have decided to close most construction down again.

What are the reasons behind this and why are we inflicting this enormous economic and social damage for such little benefit?

Are our public health experts privy to information not available to other jurisdictions experts?

Why is a factory producing goods allowed to continue operating while a site producing homes is shutdown?

Initial period of 3 weeks, now being extended to 8 weeks.

Truly bizarre and almost inexplicable!

Thoughts?

doublejobbing 2

I think the initial idea was to give people less of an excuse to be on the roads when we were on 6000, 8000 per day.

That has been and past. Get us back to work.

Problem is, the public discourse has been hijacked by various protected types who are off work and still getting their full wages.

Last May there was phucking morons from the unions encouraging people not to do the CIF Covid back to work video pass, making up some guff about GDPR concerns. It was nothing more than union coonts being union coonts, work shy lefties pulling any excuse to have the Johnny Ronans of the world lose a few more quid.

Then of course there are certain other professions only too delighted to cry and moan about how much they fear Covid, because they are getting paid a full wage to sit at home doing nothing all winter.

Yet again our government is bowing down to left wing laziness that flies in the face of science. Sites by their very nature are not generally close contact environments, most men tend to work in teams of typically two or three, bar the odd one like scaffolders.


I heard a text on Matt Cooper from a floor installer telling of how his orders were gone down the pan and the stress of it all was killing him.

Brid Smith's response was- increase the subsidies.

The left in this country don't understand why some people don't want to get up at midday and stare at the telly/ internet all day for the next six months.

Corby Trouser Press

Re unions surely there aren’t too many unionised trades sitting at home on full pay?

Agree anything to stop more money going into the likes of Johnny Ronan’s is likely a motivation for the likes of Bríd Smith and Richard Boyd-Barrett but the reality is those guys aren’t decision makers.

As I remember it, the timeline for where we got this insane position was Roisin Shorthall (another with no office but a large sympathetic microphone offered to her by the media) mentioned construction on Brendan O’Connor show on the first Saturday of the New Year.

UK made their big restrictions announcement the following Monday with a specific mention saying basically “nobody go to work but of course construction is essential”

Then on Weds 6th it’s just shat out there along with the schools which obviously took all the limelight.

Now there’s no rowing back on it, not with the coddled D4 media set who have created an association in the Irish mindset that builders are greedy, messy and untrustworthy.

Fr Tod Umptious

The likes of Smith and Boyd-Barrett are never short of something to say about the "housing crisis" either.

So how about this

There is a site around the corner from here that shut down since before Christmas because of the Level 5 restrictions.
The site is for 50+ social houses.
So 50+ families will now be a few months late getting off the housing list because of it.

Corby Trouser Press

It is just so economically and socially harmful without making the slightest impact on cases.

Wasn’t a question raised on it yesterday by the media.

Obsessing instead as they were about the airports... which are 94% less busy then this time last year!

Of all decisions made in the last 10/11 months this has to up there as the strangest and least effective measure.

Mind is scrambled thinking about it!

uli84

There is no reason in any of that, forget it

landofthetree

I can understand why a sealed building with tradesmens finishing it off would be shut down.

But site where people working are in the open air doesnt really make sense.

Cerveza

landofthetree wrote: »

I can understand why a sealed building with tradesmens finishing it off would ne shut down.

But site where people working are in the open air doesnt really make sense.

The virus spreads in the air.

lawred2

Cerveza wrote: »

The virus spreads in the air.

Oh no... Stay inside people.. there's a virus at your door

FFS

Give your head a shake will you

Fr Tod Umptious

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

The likes of Smith and Boyd-Barrett are never short of something to say about the "housing crisis" either.

So how about this

There is a site around the corner from here that shut down since before Christmas because of the Level 5 restrictions.
The site is for 50+ social houses.
So 50+ families will now be a few months late getting off the housing list because of it.

Social housing is allowed open for construction as it deemed essential

Cerveza

The experts aren’t making it up.

lawred2

Which construction sites/activities are deemed not essential?

There's some work going on across the road on a new estate but definitely not at full capacity

Fann Linn

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

The likes of Smith and Boyd-Barrett are never short of something to say about the "housing crisis" either.

So how about this

There is a site around the corner from here that shut down since before Christmas because of the Level 5 restrictions.
The site is for 50+ social houses.
So 50+ families will now be a few months late getting off the housing list because of it.

Mustn't be social housing as that is exempt.

Corby Trouser Press

Cerveza wrote: »

The experts aren’t making it up.

Which experts?

Those in the UK, Germany and the rest of the world who are allowing construction to continue or the Irish experts who aren’t?

doublejobbing 2

lawred2 wrote: »

Which construction sites/activities are deemed not essential?

Off the top of my head, everything. Bar

- important infrastructure. Roads, electric, hospitals, water supplies etc

- social housing developments. I presume this is purely SH sites rather than mixed sites and Part V allocations.

- large sites, data centres mostly, for multinationals such as Facebook. Why I don't know, they aren't exactly going to throw a huff and walk away from a half completed site they put x billion into already.

Jinglejangle69

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Social housing is allowed open for construction as it deemed essential

Only in certain conditions.

If there a few months off been finished.

Totally unfair though.

Why are they getting priority over people getting a mortgage to buy they house?

Blatent discrimination.

Jinglejangle69

Fann Linn wrote: »

Mustn't be social housing as that is exempt.

Nope.

Not all are exempt.

Summer2020

I’ve seen plenty of painter/decorator vans , carpenters , electricians on the road the last week and expect to see more and more as the weeks go on. People are stretching the “essential work” to include anything. Ridiculous having construction shut once we’re below 1000 cases a day

Fr Tod Umptious

Deleted User wrote: »

Social housing is allowed open for construction as it deemed essential

Fann Linn wrote: »

Mustn't be social housing as that is exempt.

Jinglejangle69 wrote: »

Nope.

Not all are exempt.

There must be some sort of exceptions/loopholes etc.

In this case the houses are being build by a private developer and have been sold (off the plans as it were) to Cluid the non profit housing agency.
Cluid then rent the houses to people who are on the local social housing list.

So they are going to end up being rented as social/affordable housing to people from the housing list.

So they are social housing.

Either way, the work did not restart after the Christmas holidays.

Jinglejangle69

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

There must be some sort of exceptions/loopholes etc.

In this case the houses are being build by a private developer and have been sold (off the plans as it were) to Cluid the non profit housing agency.
Cluid then rent the houses to people who are on the local social housing list.

So they are going to end up being rented as social/affordable housing to people from the housing list.

So they are social housing.

Either way, the work did not restart after the Christmas holidays.

• A limited number of social housing projects, including voids, designated as essential sites by Local Authorities based on set criteria (projects due to be completed in the next six to eight weeks)

doublejobbing 2

Jinglejangle69 wrote: »

Why are they getting priority over people getting a mortgage to buy they house?
.

To be fair there hasn't been an aesthetically pleasing housing estate built since the trade re started post 2016.

I find it hard to feel sorry for anybody stupid enough to pay 380- 780K for any of the monstrously ugly yokes going up around Dublin in recent years. Give me an ex corpo or pre 2010s semi for <250K any day as long as it's not in an absolute kip of an area.

Sweet.Science

doublejobbing 2 wrote: »

To be fair there hasn't been an aesthetically pleasing housing estate built since the trade re started post 2016.

I find it hard to feel sorry for anybody stupid enough to pay 380- 780K for any of the monstrously ugly yokes going up around Dublin in recent years. Give me an ex corpo or pre 2010s semi for <250K any day as long as it's not in an absolute kip of an area.

New builds are now corpo houses
Old Corpo houses are now privately bought

Crazy times

Jinglejangle69

doublejobbing 2 wrote: »

To be fair there hasn't been an aesthetically pleasing housing estate built since the trade re started post 2016.

I find it hard to feel sorry for anybody stupid enough to pay 380- 780K for any of the monstrously ugly yokes going up around Dublin in recent years. Give me an ex corpo or pre 2010s semi for <250K any day as long as it's not in an absolute kip of an area.

What's that got to do with anything we are discussing????

doublejobbing 2

Jinglejangle69 wrote: »

What's that got to do with anything we are discussing????

Just saying, if you're daft enough to pay top dollar for an ugly house off the plans, and the cancelled move in date leaves you in limbo as you're out of your old accommodation, I don't really have much sympathy for anyone in that situation. It's li like eejits who insist on paying for everything with card and never carry cash, then have a cry because they get stuck when some businesses rightly don't abide by it and deal in cash only.

oopsies

From what I can see most construction sites are still open. I have a good few family members working on sites and they are all open as normal. Who is really policing it? My neighbour is a plumber and is flat out working on various sites and private houses.

wolfyboy555

Yes I thought there would be more coverage of this also. Was due to move into new build middle of February but site is closed. Would have been a great relief as currently living with parent in high risk category. Of course the government have decided that the private buyer like myself will have to put life on hold but the social housing tenant will get to move into their new builds down the road from mine.

Ireland is a great little country indeed

Jinglejangle69

wolfyboy555 wrote: »

Yes I thought there would be more coverage of this also. Was due to move into new build middle of February but site is closed. Would have been a great relief as currently living with parent in high risk category. Of course the government have decided that the private buyer like myself will have to put life on hold but the social housing tenant will get to move into their new builds down the road from mine.

Ireland is a great little country indeed

Sympathise entirely with you.

It's blatent discrimination, and you're trying to do it all yourself without any help from the state.

Accrodong to a poster here you deserve no sympathy because you're buying a new house.

I know I know.

Jinglejangle69

doublejobbing 2 wrote: »

Just saying, if you're daft enough to pay top dollar for an ugly house off the plans, and the cancelled move in date leaves you in limbo as you're out of your old accommodation, I don't really have much sympathy for anyone in that situation. It's li like eejits who insist on paying for everything with card and never carry cash, then have a cry because they get stuck when some businesses rightly don't abide by it and deal in cash only.

Yeah that comparison isn't the same at all.

I know it's terrible, silly people just trying to find a house to live in and do it the honest way.

Eejits alright.

Sigh.

Rodin

Just last week I saw three separate vanloads of lads all sitting together in the vans for their lunch break.

This is why construction is shut down.

lawred2

doublejobbing 2 wrote: »

Just saying, if you're daft enough to pay top dollar for an ugly house off the plans, and the cancelled move in date leaves you in limbo as you're out of your old accommodation, I don't really have much sympathy for anyone in that situation. It's li like eejits who insist on paying for everything with card and never carry cash, then have a cry because they get stuck when some businesses rightly don't abide by it and deal in cash only.

What incoherent gibberish

vrusinov

There is a lot of office/private residential construction in north & south Docklands and as far as I can see it's all closed now.

Except ejits in apartment two floors above me who were drilling and banging for half of January.

secman

Involved in Construction, electrical contractor, 60% of our site staff are on temp lay off due to site closures, the remaining 40 % are on jobs which are nearing completion so every week up to 5th Match will mean more lay offs. No new jobs allowed to start.

omeara1113

Work in construction as far as I can see it's work away as normal just let on your worried about covid but foremen and builders are using the social housing thing to push things as far as they can
With no inforcement they'll keep doing it

Risteard81

secman wrote: »

Involved in Construction, electrical contractor, 60% of our site staff are on temp lay off due to site closures, the remaining 40 % are on jobs which are nearing completion so every week up to 5th Match will mean more lay offs. No new jobs allowed to start.

Also an electrical contractor and all of our work in the 26-Counties has stopped. Luckily we have works in the Six Counties to keep us going at the minute. It's outrageous closing construction.

secman

omeara1113 wrote: »

Work in construction as far as I can see it's work away as normal just let on your worried about covid but foremen and builders are using the social housing thing to push things as far as they can
With no inforcement they'll keep doing it

Not true, a large amount of sites are closed, so hardly "work away as normal"

omeara1113

secman wrote: »

Not true, a large amount of sites are closed, so hardly "work away as normal"

A large amount of sites still open to

secman

omeara1113 wrote: »

A large amount of sites still open to

So hardly normal if 50% are only open,

Corby Trouser Press

secman wrote: »

Involved in Construction, electrical contractor, 60% of our site staff are on temp lay off due to site closures, the remaining 40 % are on jobs which are nearing completion so every week up to 5th Match will mean more lay offs. No new jobs allowed to start.

This is the cold hard reality of it.

The anecdotes of lads eating lunch together and vans flying around the place and the poor unfortunates working from home on full pay having to listen to construction noise(!) all feed into a narrative where it's "feck ye builders, ye may take some pain now!"

I think there is something in the psyche of Official Ireland that the builder got too big for his boots, earned too much money and was too flashy and caused the property crash so he may suffer now and any chance we can we'll screw him.

Construction Industry Federation have just bent over and took this from the powers that be with hardly a word of complaint.

Ginger83

A site beside us received planning for a single house.
They are hammering away, digger in last week and block / stone lorries all this week.

Pitch n Putt

Deleted User wrote: »

Social housing is allowed open for construction as it deemed essential

Yes and quite bizarrely any builders or tradesperson working on these social houses wouldn’t be allowed to have their own homes constructed as that’s deemed unsafe.

Private one off housing is stopped.

So these people go work on the social housing projects and pay tax on their wages that goes into paying for social housing but they can’t progress with their own houses.

Lunacy....

screamer

The tax coffers will be vastly affected negatively with the construction workers laid off. They make vast multiples of hourly paid hospitality workers, but they have hard physical jobs working in all weathers, so I don’t begrudge them. But, there seems to also be an element of begrudgery from the leftie political ejits, and this shut down seems populist to me. What they fail to understand is populist doesn’t mean popular. Idiots. I despair at the lack of leadership and cop on we have to endure in Ireland.

pconn062

I am in the process of getting prices for a job at the moment and every builder I have rang so far has told me they are still working away, but focusing on small jobs where they are a bit more hidden away for the next few weeks. Luckily our job is hidden away so should be able to get someone. Plenty of people now have just had enough of this and will find a way around the restrictions.

Government buildings

Too much wriggle room in the construction business. Lots of work going on which shouldn't be going on.

If I was a nurse in ICU and one of these people came in with covid, I'd send them home.

Dempo1

What about our hapless housing ministers absolutely absurd comments earlier. Whilst it's common knowledge his comments can generally be scoffed at, his statement that for every week of a lockdown 700/800 won't be built. Does this guy seriously believe anywhere near this amount of houses being built weekly in normal times, has he lost plot all together, just beyond extraordinary any government minister allowed to make such widely inaccurate statements.

wolfyboy555

Dempo1 wrote: »

What about our hapless housing ministers absolutely absurd comments earlier. Whilst it's common knowledge his comments can generally be scoffed at, his statement that for every week of a lockdown 700/800 won't be built. Does this guy seriously believe anywhere near this amount of houses being built weekly in normal times, has he lost plot all together, just beyond extraordinary any government minister allowed to make such widely inaccurate statements.

They really haven't a clue. For a government that has said its aim is to improve the housing crisis in Ireland, every decision they make seems to only excaurbate it.

Corby Trouser Press

Government buildings wrote: »

Too much wriggle room in the construction business. Lots of work going on which shouldn't be going on.

If I was a nurse in ICU and one of these people came in with covid, I'd send them home.

Right, yeah.

Negligable chance of a lad fit enough to work on his feet all day ending up needing ICU.

Little chance catching on site in any case.

AlekSmart

Corby Trouser Press wrote: »

Right, yeah.

Negligible chance of a lad fit enough to work on his feet all day ending up needing ICU.

Little chance catching on site in any case.

It is quite sobering to note the numbers of posters here and elsewhere on Social Media who's fears prompt ever more strident calls for harsher and more restrictive measures to.......do exactly what ?

Is to give the HSE time and space to prepare and cope ?

Is it to suppress and/or eliminate the virus ?

A great many people appear to have lost ALL self-confidence,in favour of a wild-eyed expectation that State imposed societal shutdown will solve the issue.

We appear to have (deliberately ?) lost sight of the CV-19 reality which remains that it is a mild or unnoticed infection in over 80% of cases.

The figures really appear to be overlooked by ordinary folk,in favour of ever more scarifying revelations from Govermental and other associated groups now fully engaged with the Covid programme.

https://covid19ireland-geohive.hub.arcgis.com/pages/hospitals-icu--testing

Total Tests Completed
2,996,190

Total Positive Tests
196,397

Total Positive Rate (%)
6.6

Even less attention appears to be paid to the Hospitalization figures...

https://covid19ireland-geohive.hub.arcgis.com/pages/detailed-profile-of-cases

Total Cases Hospitalised
10,494

Total Cases Requiring ICU
1,043

Healthcare Worker Cases
23,032

https://covid19ireland-geohive.hub.arcgis.com/pages/detailed-county-statistics

Total Population of Dublin
1,347,359
(Census 2016)

Total Confirmed Cases
64,834
In Dublin

The endless circle of lockdown,restrictions,and endless doomladen media articles is ensuring that ever increasing numbers of ordinary folk are succumbing to what is far more damaging than the Virus......Helplessness and Depression.:(

It is surely time to return to being Human again ?

scwazrh

pconn062 wrote: »

I am in the process of getting prices for a job at the moment and every builder I have rang so far has told me they are still working away, but focusing on small jobs where they are a bit more hidden away for the next few weeks. Luckily our job is hidden away so should be able to get someone. Plenty of people now have just had enough of this and will find a way around the restrictions.

Any builders who are working where they are “hidden away “ clearly don’t care about government guidelines or rules.If that’s their attitude to public health and a pandemic do you think they will care about something small like building regs while working in your house?

In the event of an insurance claim for any incidents during these non essential works the builder won’t be covered so it will be the homeowner at fault then.

the_pen_turner

scwazrh wrote: »

Any builders who are working where they are “hidden away “ clearly don’t care about government guidelines or rules.If that’s their attitude to public health and a pandemic do you think they will care about something small like building regs while working in your house?

In the event of an insurance claim for any incidents during these non essential works the builder won’t be covered so it will be the homeowner at fault then.

i think thats a bit of a stretch.
the guys that care about doing it right will still do it right and those that never cared still wont. pandemic wont change that

scwazrh

the_pen_turner wrote: »

i think thats a bit of a stretch.
the guys that care about doing it right will still do it right and those that never cared still wont. pandemic wont change that

Guys that care about doing it right are only working on allowed works or sitting at home.The lads that are willing to carry out works that should not be in progress are putting money ahead of rules , that attitude usually applies to all rules not just some

Jinglejangle69

scwazrh wrote: »

Any builders who are working where they are “hidden away “ clearly don’t care about government guidelines or rules.If that’s their attitude to public health and a pandemic do you think they will care about something small like building regs while working in your house?

In the event of an insurance claim for any incidents during these non essential works the builder won’t be covered so it will be the homeowner at fault then.

Or maybe they just want to put food on the table for their kids.

Not everyone is able to work from home on full pay.