The construction industry is set to change radically with the growth in high-tech building and the increasing use of precision manufactured components built off-site, according to TJ Walsh, director of Townlink Construction, a specialist building contractor.

Speaking at the opening of Townlink's new headquarters in Tallaght, he said that as serious labour shortages continue to bedevil the construction industry, high-tech buildings, already well-proven in other European countries, would greatly reduce dependence on traditional bricks and mortar, and in consequence, less skilled and unskilled labour would be required. Mr Walsh forecast that labour intensive, Meccano-style on-site building would be gradually replaced by well-designed components which would be put together on site like Lego.