Sir, – David McWilliams contends that housing expenditure will have to be ramped up from some €1 billion a year to €6.5 billion a year if we are to achieve the required housing output of 52,000 units annually, as suggested by those expert in the field (“In a too-hot Irish economy, politicians are treating voters like children in a sweet shop”, Opinion, November 15th).
This level of construction is required due to the extraordinary population growth experienced over recent years. So far this year, some 149,200 people have arrived on our shores, of which only 30,000 are returning Irish citizens.
It appears to me that we do not actually have a housing crisis but rather an immigration crisis. The growth in the population of this country is clearly out of control and potentially very destabilising.
As David McWilliams states, it is time for the Government to “take some heat out of the economy”. Managing the growth in the population through controlling immigration is a far more effective antidote to the many pressure points being experienced in housing, infrastructure, healthcare and security, to name but a few. – Yours, etc,
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MICHAEL GILMARTIN,
Blackrock,
Co Dublin.
