A blame game over who is responsible for the scandalous neglect of social housing appears to be underway at the Department of the Environment and Local Government. The new Minister, Mr Roche, is pointing the finger at local authorities and insisting they failed to build or purchase the number of social housing units sanctioned by Government during a ten-year period, to 2003. The Minister says he will take a personal interest in such developments in future and will drive the process forward.
Accusing local authorities of poor performances and inefficiencies is not a new phenomenon. And it has frequently been justified. On this occasion, however, the Minister for the Environment and Local Government is being too clever by half. Some fault may attach to local managers and councils. But by choosing to focus on the number of social units completed, rather than on the funding supplied by his Government, the Minister has effectively discounted the impact of high housing inflation.
Social housing has been practically ignored as an issue by Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats since they entered Government in 1997. Back then, fewer than 30,000 households were on council waiting lists. Today, the figure is 60,000 and rising. The trend has been reflected by the spending estimates during the past four years. Mr Roche has given himself some wriggle room by increasing funding for local authority and social housing by 9 per cent in 2005. But the average rise over the most recent four years has been less than 2 per cent, when housing costs have been rising by many multiples of that.
Poverty, social exclusion and inadequate housing are all inextricably entwined. The St Vincent de Paul, which reaches out to such struggling families and their 50,000 children, has asked the Government in its Budget submission to make 8,500 social housing units available next year. That will not, indeed cannot, be achieved with the resources now allocated. The best Mr Roche can hope for is to provide 5,500 units. In view of our rapidly growing population and the influx of foreign, low paid, workers the Government simply must accord social housing greater priority.
Ministers have been attempting to refurbish their image as a caring, compassionate Government in advance of the general election. But the blunt truth is that they have deliberately neglected social housing. A former minister, Mr Dempsey, who imposed a requirement on builders to provide 20 per cent of development land for social and affordable housing, was demoted and the rules were changed. Since then, only a handful of such homes have become available. And promises to provide alternative homes on State-owned land have not been met.
The exercise in finger-pointing that Mr Roche has embarked upon is badly judged. Local authorities have their faults. But the blame for this particular shambles lies at the heart of Government.