Dysfunctional housing market - Far more radical response is vital

Earlier this week the housing charity Threshold reported that in 2016 it received more than 71,000 calls, many from people facing destitution. 

This was just one way of detailing our shameful housing crisis. Figures on new mortgages published yesterday may not be as cutting in human terms but they underline how dysfunctional our housing market is.

You do not need to be a Marxist to feel uneasy at the Banking and Payments Federation of Ireland figures published yesterday.