HAI Launches its Pre-Budget Submission 2025

Hardware Association Ireland (HAI) has today launched its Pre-Budget Submission for 2025. 

This can be read in full here.

The recommendations detailed here-in are a coherent and compelling response to the challenges and opportunities that we face – an active strategy of what we can do. They are both appropriate and pro-social with a particular relevance for much-needed regeneration throughout the country.

It contains 40 recommendations that, when implemented, will result in a healthy marketplace for both merchants and manufacturers.

Our submission includes a series of proposals designed to:

• Increase housing supply by addressing the backlog of over 95,000 units and setting achievable targets for future builds.
• Rejuvenate vacant homes, bringing 40,000 additional homes into the market.
• Promote sustainable, carbon-friendly building methods to ensure that our growth is also green.
• Expand the construction workforce by over 120,000 skilled workers through apprenticeship programmes and training incentives.
• Create a fairer and more sustainable housing market that benefits everyone in Ireland.

To bring these proposals to life and to ensure they resonate with policymakers, media, and the public, we’ve developed a series of short videos that outline our key recommendations.

Click the Thumbnails to watch the Videos:

1. Introduction by HAI CEO Martin Markey:                                   
2. Addressing new Housing Supply and Empty Homes               
3. Promoting Carbon-Friendly Building Methods                         
4. Upskilling the Sector                                                                     
5. A Fairer, Sustainable Housing Market                                         
6. ‘Above the Shop’ Units                                                                   

We believe that these proposals offer realistic, practical solutions to the housing crisis—solutions that reflect the expertise and reliability that our industry is known for.

These proposals will inform our lobbying activity for at least the next year.

Chief amongst the recommendations is that our housing targets are realistic. To make them realistic empty homes and “above the shop” premises must be included, with incentives to make them viable.
We also need a huge increase in trained staff – at both sides of the counter. And business costs need to be reduced.

For any media queries related to our Budget Submission, please contact Martin Markey at martin@hardwareassociation.ie or call 01 2980969.