THE EUROPEAN Union plans to provide €35 million to the Republic to help almost 6,000 builders get back to work.

Brussels proposes giving the cash from the European globalisation adjustment fund to the Government to support 5,987 building workers, laid off as a result of the recession in their industry, find new employment.

The money will be used to provide them with training, either third-level or vocational, career guidance or to aid them in starting their own businesses. The money is being given in response to applications for aid relating to more than 9,000 former workers from 3,348 small and medium-sized building businesses.

The scheme will be targeted at people who are regarded as facing the greatest difficulty in finding alternative employment.

Construction Industry Federation director general Tom Parlon welcomed the move yesterday.

“Over 170,000 direct construction jobs have been lost since the crisis began and during the year to date, four years after the first losses in the sector emerged, construction still accounts for half of the total employment and two-thirds of the male employment drop in the economy,” he said.

The Society of Chartered Surveyors in Ireland also welcomed the proposal. Andrew Nugent, chairman of the society’s quantity surveying group, said the money would provide unemployed building workers “with much needed support in the areas of extra training, employment supports and enterprise assistance”.

The European Parliament and Council of Ministers must approve the grant.