62 new jobs will be created in County Laois over the next three years.

The new employment is possible due to today's opening of a €16 million fully Automated Steel Fabrication Facility in Portlaoise today.

Midland Steel's FasterFix technology offers a modern way of construction for both housing foundations and concrete substructure.

Managing Director Tony Woods said the jobs will be highly skilled. 

“By using our process, we have developed a system that makes the process of placing reinforced steel on sites 75% faster than the traditional [method],” he said. 

“It uses 80% less labour on site; all manufactured in an offsite environment, so we switched the process from the site teams to the factory teams.” 

Mr Woods added that his team hope to make the construction industry a safer, more efficient place to work in. 

“Effectively, we will be producing reinforcement steel - which is a very manual, labour intensive process - for all reinforced elements of concrete,” he said. 

“There are labour constraints within our industry; all of that process will now become automated. 

“98% of it will remove manual handling, which makes the site a safer place, a leaner place and a more sustainable workplace.” 

According to the CSO, employment in Ireland rose in the last quarter of 2024 by 0.3%; up from 74% to 74.3% of the population aged between 15 and 64.