Sir, – The ESRI has identified the small number of houses under construction as likely to result in a future housing shortage (Business, February 18th).
But a more serious problem is the shortage of students studying civil engineering and other courses in construction.
The numbers taking civil engineering at UCD has fallen from about 70 per annum five years ago to just 14 today – and this trend is typical of numbers in other colleges.
There is already a shortage of engineers and this will become much more acute as the recovery in construction gathers pace. The knee-jerk reaction in student choice five years ago is now coming home to roost! – Yours, etc,
Prof EUGENE OBRIEN,
School of Civil,
Structural & Environmental
Engineering,
University College Dublin,
Dublin 4.