Housing in Ireland is 'great failure', president says
President Michael D Higgins made the comments at the opening of a supported residence facility outside Naas
At a glance
President Michael D Higgins describes housing in the Republic of Ireland as a "great, great failure".
The president says youth homelessness has increased in the country by 90%.
The Department of Housing says it aims to end homelessness by 2030.
- Published
Irish President Michael D Higgins has said housing in the country is a "great, great failure".
The president said it was not a crisis, but a "disaster", in a speech on Tuesday,
He was speaking at the opening of a supported residence facility for young homeless adults outside Naas in County Kildare.
He added that the country needed to meet "the basic needs of people".
"Housing and the basic needs of society should never have been left to the market place," he said.
"It is the mad speculative money that is destroying our country, which we are welcoming, which we shouldn't be."
At the official opening of the Jigginstown Manor facility the president praised Wicklow and Kildare councils, calling on other local authorities to support similar projects.
He said: "Let all the county managers and the directors of services all over the country have a good look at what is happening in Wicklow and Kildare and ask themselves: 'Why aren't we doing something similar? What is stopping us?'"
The president said homelessness of young people had increased by 90% and that the "outlook is getting darker".
"Let's house our people, let's educate our people, let's show that no one is going hungry, let's show that no one is excluded from any part of our society.
"That is what we should be celebrating 100 years on from the time we got the opportunity to be an independent people."
The Department of Housing said it was "very aware of the many challenges which exist in housing".
In a statement, the department said: "Increasing supply of all types of housing - social, affordable purchase, cost rental and private is at the heart of the Housing for All policy.
"We need to get to a point where an average of at least 33,000 homes are being delivered each year and that’s what the four pathways in Housing for All are focussed on.
"We’re thankfully seeing some very positive trends with housing commencements, completions and planning permissions all rising significantly."
The department said the plan contained 18 separate actions to tackle homelessness and reach its objective of ending homelessness by 2030.