Commission on Housing appointed

[Brendan Burgess]

Guys, if any of you are thinking of applying for this, the closing date is tomorrow, 10th December.

Brendan

 

[Purple]

Are we taking bets on what the membership will look like?
Public Servants, a few academics and a few from the homelessness industry. Maybe a friendly economist.

 

[Brendan Burgess]

Hi Purple

Stick in an application and confound the sceptics.

Brendan

 

[RetirementPlan]

Are we taking bets on what the membership will look like?
Public Servants, a few academics and a few from the homelessness industry. Maybe a friendly economist.

Shock horror that it might include people who know something about the topic. What would your ideal membership look like?

 

[Purple]

Hi Purple

Stick in an application and confound the sceptics.

Brendan

I'm not an expert. I have opinions. My problem is people being appointed who have opinions but are not experts. Knowing what the problem is and knowing how to fix the problem are two very different things.

 

[Brendan Burgess]

Hi Purple

You have made a lot of contributions here on factory built housing. That could be part of the solution. The Commission will require perspectives different from the normal. So go for it.

Brendan

 

[Purple]

Shock horror that it might include people who know something about the topic. What would your ideal membership look like?

The emphasis has to be on reducing the cost of delivering housing. Appointing people who don't understand that or have an vested interest in the status quo is the last thing we need.

I'd have someone from the Institute of Chartered Surveyors, an Architect, a planning expert, a solicitor, a couple of developers and builders, a few senior Civil Servants and maybe an economist. I wouldn't have any academics who pontificate in newspapers and probably still have a photo of Che Guevara on their bedroom wall. And yes, I am thinking of people from TUD etc and reports that come out of the School of Social Policy, Social Work and Social Justice in UCD which masquerade as analysis but are in fact Trojan Horses for a political agenda.

There was an excellent lecture from UCD (could be from the same department) which examined public housing policy from 1880 to now and pointed out that the policies of the 30's to the 50's saw massive spending on housing and pensions but very little on health and education. It was only when we shifted expenditure into human capital that our country was lifted out of poverty and thrived. Social Housing treats the symptoms of a social problem. Education and healthcare treats the root cause. We cannot afford to go back to the 1930's social housing policies, with the corresponding reductions in spending elsewhere. The damage to our country would be unthinkable.

 

[Purple]

Hi Purple

You have made a lot of contributions here on factory built housing. That could be part of the solution. The Commission will require perspectives different from the normal. So go for it.

Brendan

I've no doubt that whomever is appointed will be able to answer the questions that are asked of them or they are asked to answer.
My concern is that they are asked the right questions in the first place. We have a habit of asking the wrong questions and of treating symptoms as root causes. I'm a big fan of root cause analysis.

 

[RetirementPlan]

The emphasis has to be on reducing the cost of delivering housing. Appointing people who don't understand that or have an vested interest in the status quo is the last thing we need.

I don't think you're going to be too far off the mark with the end result there. You'll probably need to blacklist a few more 3rd level institutions if you don't want to hear any ideas you don't like, including TUD and Maynooth for a start, and probably more. I'd imagine that most people agree with your objective of reducing the cost of delivery.

 

[Brendan Burgess]

There are some excellent academics who would make a valuable contribution:

Ronan Lyons in Trinity
Orla Hegarty in UCD

So banning academics would not be a good idea.

Brendan

 

[Purple]

There are some excellent academics who would make a valuable contribution:

Ronan Lyons in Trinity
Orla Hegarty in UCD

So banning academics would not be a good idea.

Brendan

Fair enough. Orla Hegarty is very good. I’m talking more about people with a social/political interest in housing but aren’t bringing any expertise to the party.
If they just want a moan they can come on here.

 

[Brendan Burgess]

I know what you mean, but housing is primarily a social issue.

Brendan

 

[Purple]

I know what you mean, but housing is primarily a social issue.

Brendan

Yes, but the solutions to the issue require a broad range of expertise from people who are, in as much as is possible, unencumbered by political bias.
I can't see the tenured socialists agreeing to tax breaks for developers even if that turns out to be an essential part of the solution. The need to look at everything from regulations to planning to infrastructure to finance to supply chain and labour.

 

[RetirementPlan]

There are some excellent academics who would make a valuable contribution:

Ronan Lyons in Trinity
Orla Hegarty in UCD

So banning academics would not be a good idea.

Brendan

Fair enough. Orla Hegarty is very good. I’m talking more about people with a social/political interest in housing but aren’t bringing any expertise to the party.
If they just want a moan they can come on here.

Orla has been excellent on the ventilation issues, but I'm not convinced about the strategic role for architects in solving our housing issues. Their role is to design buildings or external spaces. I don't think there are too many design solutions here - more about costs, use of space, availability of resources and more. Planners yes, surveyors yes - architects - in the maybe pile.