Sir, – Mick Wallace ("Grappling with the housing crisis: – fresh approaches needed", Business, March 25th) is correct in his assertion that resolving the severe shortage of social housing requires that local authorities are once again enabled to play a significant role in housing provision. Prior to the economic crisis local authorities provided 70 per cent of new social housing. It is simply not feasible to increase the building of social houses to the levels required without involving local authorities.
However, Mr Wallace is not correct in his assertion that overcoming “the layers of bureaucracy that impede decision making in the relevant local authorities” will rectify this situation. Low output of social housing by local authorities has very little to do with bureaucracy and everything to do with the fact that government capital funding for this sector has declined by over 90 per cent in recent years – from just under €1 billion in 2008 to €80 million in 2014.
Unless new sources of funding are provided to enable local authorities provide social housing, the social housing shortage will continue. Without the requisite finance, any new minister for housing, or head of the centralised social housing delivery agency which Mr Wallace suggests should be established, will find themselves powerless to resolve the social housing shortage. – Yours, etc,
Dr MICHELLE NORRIS,
Head of School,
School of Social Policy,
Social Work
and Social Justice,
Hanna Sheehy
Skeffington Building.
University College Dublin.