The Sunday Independent's View: Time is running out for the Government to get a grip on housing
For the Government, it offers an opportunity for reflection as it nears the halfway stage of its own first year. What has been achieved since coming into office again in January?
The administration has been accused of seeming less like a new broom than a threadbare old brush; not so much sweeping clean as brushing the country's problems under a rug to be tidied up later.
But defenders of the Fianna Fáil/Fine Gael-led Coalition would no doubt argue it has been faced with a series of obstacles since the start of the year, most notably the still unresolved threat of tariffs from Donald Trump.
There is also the worsening international situation, which last week saw Ireland join other countries in pulling embassy staff from Iran as the conflict with Israel continues.
These, however, are matters with which all our partners are having to deal. It is no excuse for not dealing robustly with domestic matters.
The legislation programme for the summer term of the Oireachtas lists a number of bills as a priority, including the Defence (Amendment) Bill which will remove the so-called triple-lock on Irish troops serving abroad, as well as measures tackling air pollution, cyber security and terrorism. All important matters, no question about it.
The logjam in planning and services is well documented
But none directly addresses the deepest issue confronting the country: that is, of course, the lack of supply, and crippling cost, of housing.
Last week there was more bad news as the Central Bank revised downward its forecast for the number of houses that will be built between now and 2027 — also the midway point of the 34th Dáil, a date which the Government may find itself careening towards at an alarming pace.
This year, it now expects 32,500 homes to be built, well short of what is needed to make a significant dent in the target of 300,000 by 2030.
The logjam in planning and services is well documented. Historically, it has often felt as if Irish bureaucracy stymies rather than stimulates innovation. No wonder we lag far behind comparable EU states when it comes to infrastructure.
The apparent lack of urgency to break through these roadblocks remains a bigger concern.
The Government already seems to have retreated into explaining rather than doing, as if seeking to justify in advance the failure to meet its own target, which it has already accepted is inevitable.
The appointment of the former HSE chief executive as chair of the newly revamped An Coimisiún Pleanála may make a difference.
If anyone has experience of cutting through red tape, it is Paul Reid. Health is another area where much-needed change sadly comes a cropper.
Ministers must act swiftly to hand him the power to green-light the infrastructure projects needed to house an estimated population of six million by 2040.
No other achievements by this Government will be worth a penny candle if the crisis in housing does not ease dramatically.
The summer recess is set to begin less than a month from now, on July 18. When TDs and senators return in September, all eyes will be on the presidential election and it will be the winter solstice before we know it.
It is still not too late to get a grip on housing, but it soon might be if more time is wasted.
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Mark Sinclair on the march Sinclair used his YouTube channel 'Freedom Dad' to voice strong support for the protests in the Republic and, by his own admission, he was welcomed with 'open arms' by the 'Limerick Says No' campaign last week. And by way of reassuring his concerned loyalist mates back in Belfast, Sinclair later said of his new-found friends: 'Not every one of them wants a united Ireland. I very rarely hear it.' But last night, Malachy Steenson – organiser of the Dublin protest – distanced himself from the former UVF man. He told the Sunday World: 'I have no connection to Sinclair. And I only learned he was at the protest, when I was told by the media. Now, you have to wonder how some of the southern journos even recognised him?' At anti-immigration protest in Limerick last weekend, the former UVF man told viewers on his YouTube channel: 'Times have changed. You don't hear so much about it these days. As you know, we're not giving anything up. The six counties belong to us. 'I don't know how long it's going to belong to Britain, but it will always belong to us, the Ulstermen and women in Northern Ireland. 'I'm trying to come across as honest and transparent. I'm not coming down here pretending to be this or that. I'm an Ulsterman and I'm proud to be an Ulsterman. 'But I like the Irish. I think it's an amazing part of the world. And not all of them want an all-Ireland. I very rarely hear it. Even 'Tiocfaidh ár lá – it's just Irish for 'our day will come'. Loyalist Mark Sinclair making a live YouTube broadcast at an anti-immigrant protest in Limerick last week . 'It's like 'slán go fóill a chara' – see you later my friend – it's just a foreign language. And I know some people won't like that. 'But it's just like France or Spanish. I wouldn't get too hung up on it,' said Sinclair. But he devoted most of his vitriol to immigrants and refugees who have come to Ireland. Said Sinclair. 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And he also said he was paid £50,000 each time he met his handler. Despite his claims, the trial judge sentenced him to 17 years in jail. Sinclair led a gang of Belfast-born desperadoes behind a spate of bank robberies on the west coast of Scotland, while the were based in Moore's flat on the outskirts of Edinburgh. Soon the flat became known to police as a 24 hours-a-day drugs and drink den. A victim of the Shankill Butchers Sinclair – who was in his mid-20s – established himself as the leader of an armed robbery outfit. And in an effort to throw the cops off their scent, Sinclair's robbery squad targeted Clydsdale Banks on the west coast, because rural banking halls had less security than normal. Sinclair wore a mask to cover his face and he brandished a hand gun during robberies at three banks, putting staff into a state of sheer panic. But after armed Scottish detectives raided Moore's flat, Sinclair was arrested along with two associates and charged with several bank robberies. 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And he pointedly added: 'I am satisfied that without you, many of the murders would not have been committed.' Addressing Moore and Robert 'Basher' Bates – another member of the Butcher gang who was involved in 14 murders – Judge O'Donnell told them: 'I see no reason whatever – apart from terminal illness – why either of you should ever be released.' During police interrogation, Moore collapsed in floods of tears and he asked detectives: 'Did I really do these things?' He received 11 life sentences, but as he was led from the dock he smiled and waved to supporters in the public gallery. Loyalist Mark Sinclair making a live YouTube broadcast at an anti-immigrant protest in Limerick last week News in 90 Seconds - June 22nd But Moore's swagger belied the fact that two years before, following his arrest, the knife killer had begged the police to get him a deal to serve his sentence outside Northern Ireland, in return for him telling them everything they needed to know about the Shankill Butchers gang. Moore confessed to committing 11 murders and involvement in another seven. And he also named all of his accomplices. But under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, Moore was released after spending 18 years behind bars.
The Journal
24 minutes ago
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Extra.ie
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