Mick Clifford: Shambolic housing policies here to stay

Students Jennifer Clifford, Grainne Stembridge, Orlaith O'Byrne and Maeve Bartley at the USI student walkout protest at University College, Cork as students walked out of lectures to protest living conditions.

On October 4, 2018, the Dáil declared housing to be a national emergency. Earlier that day, over 10,000 people protested about the prevailing situation on the streets of Dublin. The motion to declare the issue an emergency was proposed by People Before Profit and supported by all opposition parties, including Fianna Fail. The government, led by Fine Gael, opposed it but was obliged to act on it.

Following that resolution, precious little was done to reflect that we were living in extraordinary times in relation to housing. The only real radical policy to be implemented at the time to reflect an emergency was the introduction of the concept of Strategic Housing Developments (SHD). These proposed developments of more than 100 housing units, were allowed bypass local planning authorities and apply directly to An Bord Pleanála for planning permission.