Few quick wins but housing reform needs good foundations

When Fr Peter McVerry was speaking on RTÉ’s News At One on Monday, he said something which came as a shock: That news of rising homelessness is no longer a shock, writes Noel Baker

While the figures are undoubtedly appalling — for the first time there are more than 2,000 children homeless in Dublin, with 97 families becoming homeless in July alone, according to Focus Ireland — the situation has been spiralling out of control for so long McVerry may well have a point. What was a “housing crisis” has become a “homelessness crisis”.

Meanwhile, the latest daft.ie figures show that the average rent is €1,037 a month, compared to the average mortgage repayment of €953 a month.