COMMENT

NO one who saw the photograph of Margaret Cash’s children asleep on metal chairs in Tallaght Garda Station could fail to have been moved by the situation in which she found herself. The mother of seven sought shelter for herself and six of her children after finding it impossible to get emergency accommodation, and she shared the photo via social media to draw attention to the homelessness crisis.

In some quarters, it has been dismissed as a stunt, while others have goaded her on social media because she recently posted a photograph of a box of beer bottles, and another of her only daughter in a Communion dress.

No matter what the Government says, the homelessness problem is getting worse, not better, and recent acquisitions of distressed mortgages by vulture funds surely will lead to more evictions, and yet more pressure on the housing lists. The Cash family’s plight made headlines around the world, and you might think that would be enough of an embarrassment to compel Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy to return early from a foreign holiday. Instead, he has chosen to stay put and allow spokesmen speak in his place.

There is funding in place for more social housing but the pace of delivery is glacial. In the Sixties and Seventies, entire new suburbs were built, and built quickly, and that is what we need to do again. The rewards would be twofold. Not only would those who need them have permanent homes, but demand in the rental sector would soften and so too would rents, offering others the chance of cheaper accommodation, and maybe even the possibility of saving to buy homes of their own.

We are due an influx of London-based companies after Brexit is completed, and those high earners will further drive rents upwards. At the same time, EU migrant workers no longer welcome in the UK might easily cast an eye in this direction, and the arrival even of a few thousand will bring further pressure.

These are predictable events, yet the Government always seems to react rather than to plan ahead. This must stop. The social housing model served this country well for generations, and turned the children of working-class families into the middle classes. The abuse Margaret Cash has received from some quarters suggests many have forgotten where they came from. They should look in the mirror and ask themselves why they are punching down, when they really should be punching up at those charged with solving the crisis.