The Irish Times view on the politics of housing: Government only has itself to blame
The political pressure to make progress on housing is building. A 'Raise the Roof' protest will take place outside the Dáil on Tuesday evening, organised by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and supported by a range of civic society groups. This will coincide with a joint motion in the Dáil from the Opposition parties – Sinn Féin, Labour, Social Democrats and the Green Party – calling for emergency action on housing.
To some extent at least, the Government only has itself to blame for the predicament it finds itself in. It seems that ministers in the last administration believed their own ' PR' not only by accepting assurances from then housing minister Darragh O'Brien that completions last year would be close to 40,000, but also believing that enough was being done to deal with the crisis. The report of the Housing Commission last summer was ignored. The government went into the election arguing that it was on the right track.
So where to next?
The Government has moved
on planning permission rules and also rent pressure zones (RPZs)– the latter announcement apparently not fully thought through, requiring a range of clarifications. The reality is that the RPZ rules have had an impact on supply, but there are a lot of other familiar factors at play too, including infrastructure shortcomings, the cost of building and the planning system. On the latter, the Government will regret that its predecessor only passed the planning act into law in its final days.
Ministers can point to the surprisingly rapid growth of the economy in recent years and the influx of foreign workers as one reason for housing pressures. But it has been too slow to react.
READ MORE
The policy changes sought by the protesters and the Opposition are, not surprisingly, not easily implemented either. Calls to spend more State cash ignore the huge amounts already being directed into housing; additional resources are indeed needed, but the real issue is delivery. Demands for more protections for private renters is understandable – and this vulnerable group does need to be looked after.
But marrying this with more supply is the issue. Calls to create a right to housing are well founded, but all sides know the risk that this becomes another empty promise. Perhaps the strongest case of the protesters is the lethargy of the Government in its early months on policy issues. It is only now starting to move on housing and has still to clearly indicate what route it will take.
Opposition politicians – and the wider public too – might also reflect on the culture of objections to planning development which are all too common and cross the political divide. If Ireland really sees housing as a crisis, then the comfortable classes cannot continue to seek every avenue to delay developments which may discommode them. If housing really is to be treated as a crisis, then everyone has a role to play.
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