The secretary general of the Department of Housing, Graham Doyle, caused something of a stir at a housing conference this week when he said that the State does not need a “ housing tsar” – the moniker given by the media to the person who will head a new office to try to accelerate housing provision. This idea is, of course, part of Government housing policy and the Minster for Housing, James Browne, has been trying to fill the post.
A statement issued by the Department of Housing later the same evening said that Doyle had emphasised that the new Housing Activation Office (HAO) will have a chief executive with “ an interventionist” approach, but not a tsar “ and the connotations that word evokes.” Predictably the media was given the blame for the “tsar” title, which we were told was “misleading and not reflective of the real intent and purpose of the HAO.”
Words are important here. The primary dictionary definition of a tsar obviously relates back to Russian history, but it can also refer to a person given power by a Government to deal with a particular issue. So what power will the head of the new office actually have?
It is clear that the Department sees the HAO role as under its aegis, rather than the independent executive recommended in the report of the Housing Commission. Clearly the Minister, reporting to the Government, is ultimately responsible for this. He needs to make it clear how the incumbent will relate to his and other government departments and groups in the area, of which there are now a few new additions?
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Clarity and accountability is vital. We have seen in other cases, such as the recent revelations surrounding Children’s Health Ireland, how blurred lines can lead to a lack of transparency and questions over who is responsible.
The housing secretary general is no doubt correct to observe that just knocking a few heads together is not going to solve the housing problem. But it may still be needed, particularly to sort out who exactly is responsible for what in the complicated structures now in place.
