Irish Examiner view: How one big issue bleeds into others

Homelessness is the defining challenge of our age

Homelessness is bound up with other contemporary challenges such as drug use.

The crisis in accommodation and homelessness is so multi-faceted that it is no surprise to see it surface in almost every controversy that occurs in Irish life. 

Comparisons of the cost of the notorious Leinster House bike shed with the price of a second-hand house is just the latest example.

Homelessness is also bound up with other contemporary challenges such as drug use. 

The Tabor Group recently released a report with shocking statistics which give an idea of the size of the drug problem in Ireland: 

From 2017 to 2023, there was a 228% increase in cases where cocaine was the primary drug and a 600% increase in crack cocaine use during the same period. 

Those levels of abuse and addiction are bound to contribute to the numbers of people who are adrift in our society, and it is little wonder that the Tabor Group has called for increased funding to help them.

Focus Ireland, one of the charities focused on homelessness, has also called for more funding, but it is worth exploring the fine print in CEO Pat Dennigan’s comments ahead of the forthcoming budget.

Pat Dennigan CEO of homeless charity Focus Ireland. 

“The 2023 budget included a provision of €215m for homeless services,” Mr Dennigan said. 

“But the final cost was nearly €316m. In the 2024 budget, the €316m was ignored, and a provision was made for €242m, which was represented as an increase on the previous levels.”

This is the kind of budgetary sleight of hand which has the effect “of leaving the sector permanently on the edge of crisis”, as Mr Dennigan said, and needs to be addressed specifically in the budget. 

That is the pressing issue, the short-term situation.

In a wider context, there was a cautionary tale from the past this week in the form of another report — that of the scoping inquiry.

The report outlines decades of abuse of vulnerable children and has horrified the nation.

The report also serves as a cautionary tale in terms of governance, as it shows what happens when the State outsources its responsibilities to its citizens.

At the same time, is there confidence in the State’s capacity to address the homelessness issue directly?

No wonder this is the defining challenge of our age.

Building regulations: Grenfell report offers a warning

The report into the Grenfell Tower fire, which claimed 72 lives in London seven years ago, was finally published, though the finger pointing will not abate any time soon.

The report is scathing in its indictment of “decades of failure” on the part of the British government and the construction industry when it comes to safety, but it pulls no punches on the specifics of the Grenfell fire either. 

Architects, builders and municipal authorities’ building control departments all come in for sharp criticism.

So does Cavan company Kingspan — the report states Kingspan deliberately marketed and sold an insulation product used in Grenfell which relied on tests carried out on a different product. 

Smoke billowing from the fire that engulfed the 24-storey Grenfell Tower in west London in 2017. File picture

The report adds that the company concealed this information from officials and did not withdraw the product from the market despite Kingspan’s own concerns about it. 

The company has claimed that the product was used without its knowledge.

Clearly there is an intrinsic significance in a well-known Irish company being involved in this tragedy, but Grenfell has more resonance now than ever before in Irish life.

Building apartments may offer a chance to create more accommodation in Ireland than building houses but, for many Irish people, apartments are reminiscent of the Celtic Tiger era — when thousands of them were built around the country very quickly.

Too quickly, perhaps: Fire safety and water leaks issues have been identified in some apartment buildings built at that time, with estimates of up to 100,000 apartments built between 1991 and 2013 being defective due to various safety issues.

Last November, then-taoiseach Leo Varadkar announced draft legislation to establish a €2.5bn redress scheme for such apartments, adding that an apartment he owned himself had such defects.

The terrible loss of life at Grenfell in 2017 must not be replicated in Ireland. 

If we are to build apartments on a large scale, then such building must be regulated properly and safety guidelines strictly enforced.

And the Grenfell report should be examined closely to see if there are any lessons for Ireland in it.

Hotel prices: Cost fairness

Timing is everything, they say, and the proof of that evergreen aphorism was visible this week.

It is just a few days since we had the Oasis ticket shambles, and while that mess was fairly predictable, it was nowhere near as inevitable as the leap in Dublin hotel prices which accompanied the concert announcement. 

Predictable appeals to Dublin hoteliers to act responsibly predictably fell on deaf ears.

Right on cue, we have an interim statement from Maldron hotel owner Dalata, which has posted revenue of €302m, up 6% on the first six months of 2023, while earnings increased to €107.6m, up 4%. 

Those consumers are unlikely to be impressed by Mr Crowley’s pleas that the hotel chain’s booking system was overwhelmed by Oasis fans seeking rooms for the gigs, leading to overbookings.

If they are looking at a €500 charge for a room for one night in the capital next August, Dalata will be hoping to avoid further “more measured customer spending behaviour”.