A new advertising campaign will aim to encourage Irish construction workers living abroad to return home to help with the housing crisis.

Some €750,000 has been set aside for a new Government plan aimed at increasing the supply of homes in Ireland.

The plan includes a new outreach programme that will ask builders in cities like London, Sydney and New York what incentives they might need to move home to Ireland.

Higher Education Minister Simon Harris has said analysis by his department suggests Ireland will need an extra 50,000 construction workers across all trades over the next decade to keep up with housing demand.

"Ireland needs you"

He told Newstalk that the country needs its construction workers to come home.

“We want to send a message to the Irish people who may have left because there weren’t jobs in construction in the past, there weren’t jobs when the economy crashed, that Ireland is a very different place now,” he said.

“That Ireland needs you to come home, that Ireland needs you to help us build homes and if you wish to come home, there are jobs here – well-paid reliable jobs.”

Housing

Minister Harris said the Government wants people working abroad to know that “we need your help”.

“So the purpose of this campaign is to spread the word to Irish people abroad that if you are working in construction, there are huge opportunities here in Ireland and to please consider coming home and helping out,” he said.

It is understood the Government is not considering direct financial incentives to encourage people home, with the campaign focused on other ways to make Ireland a more attractive place to work.

The Department of Higher Education is also considering new peer-to-peer campaigns and working with guidance counsellors to encourage people aged 18 -24 to consider careers in construction.