“Where are we? Where are our politicians? Where is the money going? Recently, a hotel got, I think, €9m for homeless people. How many houses could we have built for that? It is a crying shame,” he fumed.
Presenting the award, then ceann comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl said the fact that Brother Kevin’s homeless support centre continued to exist spoke “more about us” than about the work being done there.
Then he paused and wondered aloud – when did homes become “housing units” and when was “society” replaced by “an economy”?
Those questions remain. If anything, the urgency to answer them has only intensified.
The hope is that the Government finally recognises this. Outlining details of the new “garden homes” initiative, Finance Minister Simon Harris said: “There is a housing emergency, and we have to – and I believe this instinctively – remove bureaucracy and administration and red tape and make it as easy as possible for people to have homes, have shelter and use their own garden space as well.”
The so-called beds in sheds proposal will not be a silver bullet, but the willingness to consider unconventional solutions and to think outside the box – or the unit – is at least refreshing.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin echoed the sentiment, saying: “We have to pull out all the stops to deal with housing, because the younger generation need access. Anything that takes pressure off the rental market is positive, in my view.”
There are legitimate concerns. Sinn Féin housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin has warned that proposed exemptions for modular homes may extend beyond family use and seep into the private rental market.
Giving families flexibility to provide a roof over a relative’s head, he cautioned, must not open the door “to very poor quality, high-cost accommodation because the Government made a mess of this”.
Social Democrats housing spokesperson Rory Hearne is also sceptical. He warned: “Hiding a generation in back gardens is not a solution to our housing crisis.”
It may not be. The ESRI recently projected that housing completions will sit in the mid-30,000s this year and next. Construction would need to accelerate at unprecedented levels to approach the 50,000 homes required each year to meet demand.
Mr Harris has acknowledged that this shortage constitutes an emergency.
Societies are either diminished or strengthened by how they respond to their greatest challenges. As Gandhi once said: “The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world’s problems.”
Emergencies demand responses – and we already know what must be done.
