Exasperation does not give people homes, Taoiseach

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has again expressed frustration at the slow pace of the planning and building process and failure of the system to respond swiftly to innovation.

However, those waiting for homes expect and deserve more than exasperation from those in power. A golden rule in management is that when goals are missed, you do not adjust the goals, you change your actions.

You do what you can, with what you have, where you are. Nothing expresses priorities better than action.

However, the record is damning. If the Government knows what to do, why has it not been done? If by now it still does not know, it is even more worrying.

We have had too many expensive multi-media launches of plans, but the desperately needed houses are still awaited.

The only thing of consequence is the end result.

The ceaseless talking and the promising begin to grate if targets are missed and the Government is seen as not delivering.

Mr Martin has acknowledged the system was too slow, given the nature of the current crises. He also accepted the system for accommodating students could be improved.

President Michael D Higgins was accused during the summer of speaking out of turn for some forthright comments on housing. He called the issue “our great, great failure” during a speech.

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar conceded that while the Government isn’t responsible for the financial crash or the housing bubble and is working to provide new homes, the issue is a “social disaster”.

What Mr Martin and Mr Varadkar must recognise is that neither is charged with being commentators, but as key players in addressing the “disaster”, and not in words, but in deeds. It is not that the Government is doing nothing, but it is obviously not doing enough.

The flagship Housing for All strategy pledged a new-build delivery rate of 33,000 homes a year out to 2030. It is difficult to get exact totals, but most agree it will manage to produce between 25,000 and 28,000 this year. Given the level of demand, that means it is failing.

The organisation Threshold produced a report a few months ago showing how owning a home is more of a distant dream for renters.

In a survey, two-thirds of clients said affordability had shut them out of the market. While 62pc wanted to buy a home within the next five years, only 28pc saw this as feasible.

Somebody once said that each time history repeats itself, the price goes up. That is definitely the case concerning homes.

This is a problem affecting the lives of just about every age group in the country. Students are the latest cohort taking to the streets over accommodation shortages and impossible commutes as city rents are way beyond them.

The Government bears responsibility. Better than being frustrated would be to focus on fixing what it can.