Fair Deal and homelessness: Ministers must join in tackling crisis

DO the math: 25,000 in nursing care, 65,000 homes vacant for five years or more and 5,000 homeless families. There must be some algorithm that can bring all those figures together to make social and economic sense.

It will take more than a simple accountancy exercise to tackle the housing crisis which is quickly turning into a homeless crisis despite the Government’s much-trumpeted Rebuilding Ireland programme. But looking at those figures would be a start.

Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy believes many of those 65,000 properties are vacant because their owners have moved into care and have no motivation to rent out their home.