Ms Mary Rose Burke:

The biggest issue is the lack of housing supply and the fundamental cause of the problem is the fact that there is more demand than there is supply. We need a multifaceted response. A vibrant city, and global capital, needs a mosaic of different types of housing for the variety of people who live in the city. I was a student in the 1980s in Dublin and I compare those days with the vibrancy of now. Nobody wants to go back to those days but this is what happens when the population jumps from 3.3 million to 4.7 million. We have a massive demand for housing without the associated public policy that provided a house for everybody. At the sharp end, we see homelessness and the reliance on social housing and measures such as the housing assistance payment. We do not think that is the long-term solution and believe the Government should build houses for social purposes across the country, particularly in Dublin.