Coalition intends to splash the cash, sort the housing shortage... and save face
The Government's attempt to reform the rental market through the expansion of Rent Pressure Zones may have dominated news coverage this week, but it is just one of several big-ticket items that the Coalition is hoping will show it is finally getting to grips with the unprecedented housing shortage.
Coalition leaders will also hope the large tranches of cash they intend to throw at the problem will calm unrest within their own party ranks and chart the beginning of an escape out of the ongoing housing quagmire.
The current National Development Plan is under review, with a report due next month. The review will assess all public capital investment through to 2035, including reallocating funding, reassessing existing plans, and updating costings. Housing Development: Pic: Getty Images
Public Expenditure Minister Jack Chambers – recently appointed to head the new Accelerating Infrastructure Taskforce, consisting of experts from agencies including the ESB, Uisce Éireann and Transport Infrastructure Ireland – will play a key role in the Government's attempt to convince voters that there is a definite plan of action that can deliver on meeting housing targets and completing major State projects.
There is money in the coffers, boosted in no small part by the €13bn Apple tax windfall and also by another €3bn from the sale of bank shares. But this investment will be quickly consumed by the cost of expanding the national grid and putting in place the water and energy infrastructure needed to facilitate delivery of large-scale housing commitments.
By next month, Mr Chambers's task force will report on the blockages that must be removed in order finally to deliver housing targets and speed up the delivery of infrastructure. Jack Chambers. Pic: Sam Boal/Collins Photos
But it remains to be seen if this Government can succeed where so many of its predecessors failed when it comes to delivering large-scale projects on time and within budget.
And as several Cabinet ministers and senior Government sources have warned this weekend, time is swiftly running out to convince an increasingly disenchanted electorate that this Coalition can make good on the big promises that it made to get back in power just over six months ago.
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