Resolving our housing crisis: Let’s break toxic cycle of failure

THERE is hardly an area of public life that vindicates Albert Einstein’s admonishment that “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting

The deaths of three homeless people over recent days underlines that reality in a shaming way. Immediate efforts to resolve the crisis concentrate on homeless people but they are, tragically, just the tip of the iceberg. The tens of thousands paying blood-draining rents also need an alternative. They are trapped in a circle of despair that, in today’s Ireland, seems all but inescapable. Unless things change radically a number of those tenants will, in time, become homeless. Those denied educational opportunities because of soaring student accommodation costs are another symptom of this betrayal. There are defining political, social, ethical, economic and justice issues framing the collapse that means there are more than 7,000 homeless people in this, one of the richest countries in the world. Our refusal to confront these issues means the crisis will, as Einstein warned, persist.

One of the root causes was breaking the time-honoured link between local authorities and the direct provision of social housing. The weekend demand from Fianna Fáil housing spokesman Barry Cowen that construction Vat be cut from 13.5% to 9% in next month’s budget suggests that party has learned nothing from the failed reliance on private developers to satisfy a public need. Mr Cowen also suggested development levies for builders who commit to building homes immediately be reduced. Fianna Fáil also proposes lower planning and certification costs, tax incentives and reliefs for developers who provide affordable homes. If there was any possibility these measures would mean cheaper housing they might deserve attention but as experience shows these incentives invariably reach an unintended destination. Brian Cowen may have closed the Galway Tent but, as his brother’s proposals show, the old, socially-destructive relationships that Ballybrit jamboree celebrated persist.