NEW ZEALAND HAS issued a call for Irish construction workers to assist in the repair of buildings damaged in recent devastating earthquakes in Christchurch.

The Earthquake Commission (EQC) approached Irish workers due to a lack of skilled labour for the major repair process. Approximately 100,000 houses are in need of repair, which will required 8,000 labourers, RTÉ reports.

Earthquakes in September 2010, February 2011 and another in June shook the area, destroyed buildings, and left almost 200 people dead.

“We are starting (to advertise in) Canterbury, then South Island, then the rest of New Zealand, and then we will start to go overseas,” said EQC chief executive Ian Simpson, reports Stuff.co.nz. ”We have made initial approaches in places like Ireland, where we know there are similar workers – English speaking, large unemployment rate of skilled workers, so we can bring those in when we need them,” he added.

The EQC says that it receives approximately 1,500 requests for emergency repairs each week.