Rogue tradesmen

Exactly . Any reputable trader will have a line of credit with a builders merchant.

I don't work for anyone I don't know without a deposit for materials and to cover some of the labour, it works both ways, If I trust them to pay me they have to trust me to do the job, if they're not happy with the job they don't have to pay me, something which has happened only once in nearly 20 years

I do a lot of jobs like that and if im not buying materials most of the time I won't ask for a deposit, but if I'm asked to price a job with materials I'll take a deposit for materials and 25% on top

I'm at the same thing, the price of concrete now would make anyone think twice about supplying it, it's a very rare instance where I supply concrete these days

It takes a lot for a transaction with a rogue trader to cross the threshold of a criminal offence, bear that in mind before you consider reporting the matter to the Gardai. Even if it's obvious in hindsight that he never intended to complete the job when he took your money, proving that in court is a different matter.

In a criminal action, the prosecution has to prove that there was an intention to defraud the customer from the start. If the guy in the OP's case was prosecuted, he can say that he took the money in good faith but spent it on private medical treatment for his wife's illness following which he didn't have the money to buy the materials for the job and that's why he 'did a runner'. His solicitor would submit that there was no intention to defraud when he took the OP's money, he would get the benefit of the doubt and be found not guilty.

If you want an illustration as to why it's very difficult to get a fraudster prosecuted in a criminal court, bear in mind that Declan O'Callaghan, a solicitor in Ballaghderreen, Co Roscommon has never spent a day in jail or even been prosecuted, yet there is a string of clients who are seriously out of pocket thanks to him. He has a track record going back to 1989, has been suspended as a solicitor since 2018 following multiple findings against him by the Law Society and the High Court involving his 'mishandling' of clients' money. Yet, to date, he has never been prosecuted, nor even been struck off the roll of solicitors. That is why the Gardai usualy shrug off cases like the OP's as 'a civil matter'.