Harris must remember he has no mandate from the Irish people
ANOTHER day, another Taoiseach. Simon Harris will become the third in four years later today and we the voters have no say in it.
The new Fine Gael leader delivered his maiden speech at his party conference over the weekend and made the most ridiculous promise I’ve heard in a while to build 250,000 houses over the next five years.
There is no doubt the lack of housing and the high cost of renting is the number one election issue and the country undoubtedly needs tens of thousands of new homes.
However, the reason why his promise was so ridiculous is we all know Fine Gael after 14 years in office has an appalling track record when it comes to house building so none of us believed a word of it. The soundbite damaged his credibility.
It is after taking a Fianna Fail minister, Darragh O’brien four years to get some sort of a grip on the housing issue and we are now building 30,000 plus homes a year.
But with an ever increasing population it is nowhere near enough. We are still building at least 20,000 houses a year less than what we need to keep up with demand.
Housing is such a complex issue there are no easy solutions. But the one thing we have to do is build thousands of council houses right across the country for low income families and that will eventually make a huge difference.
Even Sinn Fein has admitted the housing issue could take up to 10 years to sort out. There is no quick fix.
Simon Harris was naive and foolish to make a promise he can’t keep.
The one thing he needs to do after his undemocratic election to high office this afternoon is to be straight with the public from the get go.
He needs to remember that he has no election mandate from the Irish people to sit in the Taoiseach’s office.the Dail might elect him but we the people didn’t. Most people who live in the real world outside the bubble of Leinster House see Harris as a lightweight.
He has been a career politician since he was a kid and will now become our youngest ever prime minister.
The truth is most of us know very little about him and don’t know if he has the ability to run our country. I am sure he is a decent individual and he means well but he needs to deliver.
Every weekend I meet and speak to young people who are struggling to save up the money to buy a home.
And then when they do get the cash and the mortgage approval they find great difficulty trying to get the house they want. It is a very daunting, stressful time for them.
They are regularly outbid three or four times on various properties and in many cases the whole damn process can take up to a year.
But what is also more concerning is a couple needs to earn at least €100,000 between them to buy a house on the east coast commuter belt.
A single person has little or no chance of getting a property on their own unless they want to move to the rural west.
Many others are choosing to emigrate to various parts of the world so they can earn and save their deposit and then eventually return here to buy their forever home. Some sadly settle in their new adopted country and don’t return.
My own two kids and many of their friends sadly left Ireland because they didn’t see any future for themselves here. I have no idea if they will ever return.
Being Taoiseach is no easy job. There are huge pressures and you have no idea what is coming around the corner.
Today is a very proud day for Simon Harris and his family. I wish him all the very best and hope he does well. Perhaps he will show us that he is made of strong stuff and can lead this country diligently.
I would obviously prefer if he went to the country and called a General Election and let the people have their say.
Young people are struggling to save up the money to buy a home