Irish Examiner view: Government must draw on housing policies elsewhere

Many European countries — Ireland included — are struggling with acute shortages of affordable houses, with punishing rents and sky-high property prices locking younger and disadvantaged people out of the market and proving divisive at the ballot box

While solutions to this growing challenge are evasive and often tough, it may well be that answers can be found in countries where similar crises are being tackled.

With homelessness figures hitting record levels every month — there were 17,308 people in emergency accommodation in February — the Government is desperate to find answers.

While solutions to this growing challenge are evasive and often tough, it may well be that answers can be found in countries where similar crises are being tackled.