Mr. Michael O'Flynn:

I am grateful for the opportunity to engage with the committee on the country's housing emergency. I deliberately use the word "emergency" because that is what it is. I have been saying this for a number of years. We should be dealing with the crisis similarly to the emergency approach we took during Covid. I will keep my comments at a high level rather than getting into details about the group I chaired. During Covid, there was a highly co-ordinated approach across government and we know tough decisions were made in the national interest. Unfortunately, this approach has not been taken to deal with the housing crisis with the result that it is getting more and more challenging.

As someone who passionately believes that we can solve this housing crisis if we take the appropriate steps, it was a privilege to be asked to serve on the Housing Commission. The Housing Commission was a very serious attempt to provide a framework for Government to deal with the crisis in an holistic way. It provided a strategic approach which, if adopted, would over the medium term deal with the serious backlog of more than 300,000 homes, and plan sensibly to address the country's annual targets. I gave my time voluntarily to the commission and I also brought in outside experts on a voluntary basis to help craft solutions. These independent people came from the public and private sectors and were purely motivated by a desire to play their part in helping to bring forward sensible solutions informed by all their experience. Working groups were formed and were particularly effective, allowing key stakeholders to find new perspectives on issues. They facilitated close examination of issues from the perspective of different stakeholders, public and private, considering solutions, stress-testing those solutions and refining them until there was a general agreement that they would work and, importantly, that they would not have unforeseen consequences. The final report of the commission provided a blueprint for creating a sustainable housing system. It brought forward an array of clear recommendations for Government to consider, as it had been tasked to do.

However, despite the fact that it was an independent commission, its report was never formally launched and was largely ignored by Government for far too long. The immediate reaction from some in government was that most of our recommendations were already being carried out. This is simply not the case. A classic example is the proposed recommendations on necessary new housing delivery targets based on the new census data. Despite this, it was almost a year before the need for new housing targets was acknowledged and announced. That is just one example of a lack of emergency thinking and action. I am on the record for some time as saying we should treat the housing shortage as a national emergency. In fact, we should have done so years ago. I chaired a supply group within the Housing Commission and despite bringing forward early recommendations during the commission process, some of these reforms did not see the light of day and are now only emerging despite the state of emergency. The planning reforms are a good example. It is frustrating to see that 14 months after the commission presented its report and two years after early wins were presented for immediate consideration, none of these solutions has been implemented.

One of the reasons the housing crisis has lingered is policy has been created and promoted by people who are not directly involved in delivering private or public sector housing. There is too much political football played with real people's lives and homes. The causes of the crisis were not properly identified and there is a lack of acceptance of the issues that needed to be tackled. People who work on the basis of theory and ideas may be highly educated and mean well, as do people with various political ideals and none. However, unless policies are considered and stress-tested by those who are actually involved in delivering housing, the difficulties are not identified until it is too late and more precious time is lost. The housing delivery oversight executive proposed by the Housing Commission, now being termed the housing activation office, would have provided that broad-based oversight to ensure absolute intolerance of inefficiencies and obstacles, and solutions which are considered by stakeholders and refined before being implemented so they can be made effective. I am not filled by the approach taken to it in recent weeks. We need the involvement of experts from the public and private sectors. We need strong collaboration and trust. We need a Government approach that will take the difficult and brave decisions necessary, in spite of the inevitable hue and cry which will follow. Success was never brought about by taking the easy and populist route.

We have avoided the language of emergency up to now with regard to the housing situation in Ireland but there is undoubtedly an emergency. To the extent that obstacles to effective policy are perceived, emergency legislation may be required to remove them. I sincerely hope that this House will have the courage and conviction to put party politics to one side and work together to give this generation the homes they need at affordable prices that they deserve.