Our major issue as a country

Dr_serious2

Housing, and the lack of it, should be the major issue in Ireland at this moment. People are being crucified by a lack of supply and spiralling rents. Instead of tackling this massive problem, which is destroying thousands of younger people financially, we are focusing on gender neutral toilets, identity politics and political correctness, copying the Americans as usual. If any of the left wing parties had any sense they would ditch the social issues after the referendum, at least for a while, and concentrate on the mismanagement of the housing crisis by this incompetent government. Of course they won't and will probably concentrate on free gender reassignment for teenagers or some such notion that they think is more fashionable.

kneemos

Those are some bizzare connections.

corner of hells

Dr_serious2 wrote: »

Housing, and the lack of it, should be the major issue in Ireland at this moment. People are being crucified by a lack of supply and spiralling rents. Instead of tackling this massive problem, which is destroying thousands of younger people financially, we are focusing on gender neutral toilets, identity politics and political correctness, copying the Americans as usual. If any of the left wing parties had any sense they would ditch the social issues after the referendum, at least for a while, and concentrate on the mismanagement of the housing crisis by this incompetent government. Of course they won't and will probably concentrate on free gender reassignment for teenagers or some such notion that they think is more fashionable.

Are you just making a statement or asking a question ?
If it's a question , I'll have a kebab and chips .

Mint Sauce

I still dont get this Gender Neutral Toilet thing. Is that just not a Uni Sex Toilet.

Dr_serious2

corner of hells wrote: »

Are you just making a statement or asking a question ?
If it's a question , I'll have a kebab and chips .

I am making a statement that you are free to agree with, disagree with or ignore.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

corner of hells

Mint Sauce wrote: »

I still dont get this Gender Neutral Toilet thing. Is that just not a Uni Sex Toilet.

It's a toilet with no gearstick.

OP... what are you proposing to do about the situation?


Apart from the commitment of posting to boards

TheValeyard

Dr_serious2

[Deleted User] wrote: »

OP... what are you proposing to do about the situation?


Apart from the commitment of posting to boards

Vote for a politician who wants to tackle the real issues, if such a politician exists.

Bubbaclaus

Mint Sauce wrote: »

I still dont get this Gender Neutral Toilet thing. Is that just not a Uni Sex Toilet.

I've 2 of those in my house.

Fann Linn

Dr_serious2 wrote: »

Vote for a politician who wants to tackle the real issues, if such a politician exists.

And that's where the problem lies.

colm_mcm

Dr_serious2 wrote: »

Housing, and the lack of it, should be the major issue in Ireland at this moment. People are being crucified by a lack of supply and spiralling rents. Instead of tackling this massive problem, which is destroying thousands of younger people financially, we are focusing on gender neutral toilets, identity politics and political correctness, copying the Americans as usual. If any of the left wing parties had any sense they would ditch the social issues after the referendum, at least for a while, and concentrate on the mismanagement of the housing crisis by this incompetent government. Of course they won't and will probably concentrate on free gender reassignment for teenagers or some such notion that they think is more fashionable.

We’re spending the money that should be spent on building houses on gender neutral toilets? You can’t get a builder because they’re too busy rearranging public toilets?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Dr_serious2 wrote: »

Vote for a politician who wants to tackle the real issues, if such a politician exists.

We've been trying to do that for decades. Good luck with it.

Pherekydes

Dr_serious2 wrote: »

Housing, and the lack of it, should be the major issue in Ireland at this moment. People are being crucified by a lack of supply and spiralling rents. Instead of tackling this massive problem, which is destroying thousands of younger people financially, we are focusing on gender neutral toilets, identity politics and political correctness, copying the Americans as usual. If any of the left wing parties had any sense they would ditch the social issues after the referendum, at least for a while, and concentrate on the mismanagement of the housing crisis by this incompetent government. Of course they won't and will probably concentrate on free gender reassignment for teenagers or some such notion that they think is more fashionable.

The funny thing is it's the left wingers, the liberals and the SJWs who are the ones trying to do anything about any of these issues. The other side are more concerned with Apple getting away with paying no taxes, the church getting away without paying reparations and retired elites getting paid their fantastic pensions.

Samuel T. Cogley

The housing crisis could be solved tomorrow if they wanted. Relax building standards, remove VAT and other costs associated with building, tax vacant land and restore tax relief for renters. Not a chance this will happen, the left want to tax everything even more and the right are more than happy with the status quo.

amcalester

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

The housing crisis could be solved tomorrow if they wanted. Relax building standards, remove VAT and other costs associated with building, tax vacant land and restore tax relief for renters. Not a chance this will happen, the left want to tax everything even more and the right are more than happy with the status quo.

Large scale building won’t happen until all those voters are no longer in negative equity.

More votes in increasing property prices than housing the homeless.

Samuel T. Cogley

amcalester wrote: »

Large scale building won’t happen until all those voters are no longer in negative equity.

More votes in increasing property prices than housing the homeless.

Absolutely - simply pointing out that solutions are there but no one is voting for them. I've another 25% I need prices to increase to royally screw the millennial that buys my boom **** up.

JohnMc1

Mint Sauce wrote: »

I still dont get this Gender Neutral Toilet thing. Is that just not a Uni Sex Toilet.

It is, but calling it Gender Neutral toilets let's the Leftists believe they're actually fighting for something that doesn't already exist. The Left never let reality get in the way of their virtue signalling.

Dr_serious2

Pherekydes wrote: »

The funny thing is it's the left wingers, the liberals and the SJWs who are the ones trying to do anything about any of these issues. The other side are more concerned with Apple getting away with paying no taxes, the church getting away without paying reparations and retired elites getting paid their fantastic pensions.

Come off it. Dublin City Council, the most left wing council in the country, is too busy discussing Bob Geldof, Dublin banners on the ha'penny bridge and whether to fly the Palestinian or Catalonian flag on our national buildings to bother about the housing crisis in their city. Meanwhile John Halligan and Finian McGrath are going to North Korea to broker world peace. Lefties are always more interested in international issues over which they have next to no nfluence that the crises on their own doorstep.

Samuel T. Cogley

Dr_serious2 wrote: »

Come off it. Dublin City Council, the most left wing council in the country, is too busy discussing Bob Geldof, Dublin banners on the ha'penny bridge and whether to fly the Palestinian or Catalonian flag on our national buildings to bother about the housing crisis in their city. Meanwhile John Halligan and Finian McGrath are going to North Korea to broker world peace. Lefties are always more interested in international issues over which they have next to no nfluence that the crises on their own doorstep.

Right wing is gonna do you no favours either. Free market me lado. Earn more, pull yourself up by the bootstraps.

amcalester

Dr_serious2 wrote: »

Come off it. Dublin City Council, the most left wing council in the country, is too busy discussing Bob Geldof, Dublin banners on the ha'penny bridge and whether to fly the Palestinian or Catalonian flag on our national buildings to bother about the housing crisis in their city. Meanwhile John Halligan and Finian McGrath are going to North Korea to broker world peace. Lefties are always more interested in international issues over which they have next to no nfluence that the crises on their own doorstep.

DCC actually voted to reduce the LPT by the maximum allowed, money that could have been used to alleviate the housing shortage.

Then they (the councilors) have the gall to blame the government for a lack of funding.

The mind boggles.

JohnMc1

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

Right wing is gonna do you no favours either. Free market me lado. Earn more, pull yourself up by the bootstraps.

Capitalism has done more to raise people out of poverty than Socialism has.

Samuel T. Cogley

JohnMc1 wrote: »

Capitalism has done more to raise people out of poverty than Socialism has.

The issue with Socialism is it needs a strong capitalist base. I don't disagree, however if you want a capitalist policy we have one, so I don't understand what the OP is complaining about. Government, local or otherwise can deal with more than one (non) issue at a time.

Samuel T. Cogley

amcalester wrote: »

DCC actually voted to reduce the LPT by the maximum allowed, money that could have been used to alleviate the housing shortage.

Then they (the councilors) have the gall to blame the government for a lack of funding.

The mind boggles.

And force up rents, and put pressure on older people, and most importantly squeeze the voting middle class a bit more - loser all round politically.

Try_harder

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

The housing crisis could be solved tomorrow if they wanted. Relax building standards, remove VAT and other costs associated with building, tax vacant land and restore tax relief for renters. Not a chance this will happen, the left want to tax everything even more and the right are more than happy with the status quo.

Relax building standards??? Have we not learned from our very recent history???

Developers are just hoarding land banks til building becomes sufficiently profitable for them, we need to build more houses, and if the state should do it, so be it!

Gonad

Housing is this countries biggest shame.

All we have is land on this island. We could build 50 thousand houses and solve this crisis whilst getting the economy moving in no time .

But they won’t do it and they are crippling us as young people trying to make ism sort of decent life for ourselves .

Google David McWilliams ‘how we could solve the housing crisis !

riffmongous

Yeah like remember when all those leftists took over the Apollo House demanding more gender neutral toilets! Oh wait no, they were highlighting homelessness. And I wonder what Boards' resident right wing types had to same about it back then? I'm sure they were 100% behind them, because it's not like the right wingers only ever use homelessness to bash left wing groups or immigrants, they really do care about it don't they

timzil

Why is it that whenever the issue of the housing crisis is raised that it is always the supply side ie lack of housing that is the issue. What about the demand side. You know the old mass immigration drastic increasing the demand for property.

Samuel T. Cogley

Try_harder wrote: »

Relax building standards??? Have we not learned from our very recent history???

Developers are just hoarding land banks til building becomes sufficiently profitable for them, we need to build more houses, and if the state should do it, so be it!

We need a broad range of housing including smaller, profitable to build apartments. I spent 10 years with the wife in a 40sq m. place and it was absolutely fine, I just didn't keep a load of ****e around the place. I'm now in a 100sq m Semi and it feels like a palace. People need to get out of the mind set that they need 200sqm for a family home, and that families can't be raised in, decent sized, apartments in urban locations.

Bredabe

Inability to think critically and independently, issues around spelling and most worryingly numeracy.

Bullying and lack of compassion, bullyingly to make each of us the same as the other, compassion as it requires ppl to think outside of themselves and that has not been that I can see, been taught to children since before the boom.

Acceptance of bad behaviour, cute who*e syndrome and begrudgery, lack of acceptance of ppl or situations that are different.

Samuel T. Cogley

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

The housing crisis could be solved tomorrow if they wanted. Relax building standards, remove VAT and other costs associated with building, tax vacant land and restore tax relief for renters. Not a chance this will happen, the left want to tax everything even more and the right are more than happy with the status quo.

Eh, no. And you don't need to be Nostradamus to see how ineffably myopic that would be.

There's a very straightforward way to sort much of the housing problem out: the state gets back to a job it has had since the Great Depression in the 1930s: building affordable homes for people on lower/no incomes. In the 1930s alone Éamon de Valera's Fianna Fáil government built 132,000 social houses as part of its promise to tackle poverty in Ireland. Next time the usual drones criticise Dev, ask them what they and their preferred liberal/rightwing government has done to solve the housing problem. Zero.

A much, much richer Irish state today refuses to carry on that honourable tradition - instead preferring to pay hundreds of millions to private business people for providing a whole range of poor-quality, insecure, overpriced temporary accommodation rather than putting the money into building permanent homes. In 2018 the dominance of a rightwing economic ideology is the problem here. It's a lot harder to see today's fundamentalist ideology and abuse of power than it is to see the same in 1950s Ireland.

Try_harder

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

We need a broad range of housing including smaller, profitable to build apartments. I spent 10 years with the wife in a 40sq m. place and it was absolutely fine, I just didn't keep a load of ****e around the place. I'm now in a 100sq m Semi and it feels like a palace. People need to get out of the mind set that they need 200sqm for a family home, and that families can't be raised in, decent sized, apartments in urban locations.

Oh we need a range of houses, I don't disagree but not lower the standard of build

ouxbbkqtswdfaw

I agree with relaxing building standards. The problem in the past was not standards, but enforcement. The costs now associated with building standards are enormous. Same with health and safety, costs a fortune before a brick is laid.

runawaybishop

Dr_serious2 wrote: »

, we are focusing on gender neutral toilets, identity politics and political correctness, copying the Americans as usual.

Huh? Some universities talking ****e about toilets has nothing to do with the current housing issues.

Specifically what has the government to do with gender neutral toilets and how is that contributing to the housing shortage?

Dr_serious2

riffmongous wrote: »

Yeah like remember when all those leftists took over the Apollo House demanding more gender neutral toilets! Oh wait no, they were highlighting homelessness. And I wonder what Boards' resident right wing types had to same about it back then? I'm sure they were 100% behind them, because it's not like the right wingers only ever use homelessness to bash left wing groups or immigrants, they really do care about it don't they

I do care actually that people are paying outrageous money for substandard accommodation. Some of these people will end up homeless, although the overwhelming majority will end up commuting eighty miles or decimating their incomes and savings to live in Dublin to work in a job that they studied for years to obtain.

The Socialists are a lost cause but the Labour party should remember their roots. If they want to retake the working class vote they should work to solve the accommodation problem facing the working classes - but instead they concentrate left wing cultural issues that no-one over the age of 23 gives a sh*t about.

looksee

While 'reducing building standards' isn't an answer, it is true that the staggering amount of new rules and regulations and number of supervising people you need to build a house now has increased the cost of a new build completely out of proportion to the purchase price of an old house.

Samuel T. Cogley

Deleted User wrote: »

Eh, no. And you don't need to be Nostradamus to see how ineffably myopic that would be.

There's a very straightforward way to sort much of the housing problem out: the state gets back to a job it has had since the Great Depression in the 1930s: building affordable homes for people on lower/no incomes. In the 1930s alone Éamon de Valera's Fianna Fáil government built 132,000 social houses as part of its promise to tackle poverty in Ireland. Next time the usual drones criticise Dev, ask them what they and their preferred liberal/rightwing government has done to solve the housing problem. Zero.

A much, much richer Irish state today refuses to carry on that honourable tradition - instead preferring to pay hundreds of millions to private business people for providing a whole range of poor-quality, insecure, overpriced temporary accommodation rather than putting the money into building permanent homes. In 2018 the dominance of a rightwing economic ideology is the problem here. It's a lot harder to see today's fundamentalist ideology and abuse of power than it is to see the same in 1950s Ireland.

There is no point in ghettoising the poor into large estates. That's proved to be useless over and over again. Social housing needs to be evenly a thinly spread.

runawaybishop

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

The housing crisis could be solved tomorrow if they wanted. Relax building standards, remove VAT and other costs associated with building, tax vacant land and restore tax relief for renters. Not a chance this will happen, the left want to tax everything even more and the right are more than happy with the status quo.

Building standards shouldn't be relaxed, but I assume you mean stupid planning requirements, which should be seriously looked at.

timzil

Bredabe wrote: »

Inability to think critically and independently, issues around spelling and most worryingly numeracy.

Bullying and lack of compassion, bullyingly to make each of us the same as the other, compassion as it requires ppl to think outside of themselves and that has not been that I can see, been taught to children since before the boom.

Acceptance of bad behaviour, cute who*e syndrome and begrudgery, lack of acceptance of ppl or situations that are different.

Thinking critically and independently is exactly what i am doing. Immigration driving up the demand for property is quite clearly the elephant in the room when it comes to the housing crisis. Anyone with the most basic understanding of economics knows this but nobody can quite bring themselves to say it.

Samuel T. Cogley

looksee wrote: »

While 'reducing building standards' isn't an answer, it is true that the staggering amount of new rules and regulations and number of supervising people you need to build a house now has increased the cost of a new build completely out of proportion to the purchase price of an old house.

Add to this the rules around apartments, dual aspect, X per floor making it expensive to build. Wasn't one estimate 250K for a one bed?

New build houses are shockingly expensive IMHO even in places like Meath and Swords.

runawaybishop

timzil wrote: »

Thinking critically and independently is exactly what i am doing. Immigration driving up the demand for property is quite clearly the elephant in the room when it comes to the housing crisis. Anyone with the most basic understanding of economics knows this but nobody can quite bring themselves to say it.

Probably because that's not the main cause.

Samuel T. Cogley

timzil wrote: »

Thinking critically and independently is exactly what i am doing. Immigration driving up the demand for property is quite clearly the elephant in the room when it comes to the housing crisis. Anyone with the most basic understanding of economics knows this but nobody can quite bring themselves to say it.

When you're ready to take a job in McDonalds or speak Italian in a call centre we can talk about immigration. Typically people immigrating into Ireland are productive and more than paying their way.

Dr_serious2

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Eh, no. And you don't need to be Nostradamus to see how ineffably myopic that would be.

There's a very straightforward way to sort much of the housing problem out: the state gets back to a job it has had since the Great Depression in the 1930s: building affordable homes for people on lower/no incomes. In the 1930s alone Éamon de Valera's Fianna Fáil government built 132,000 social houses as part of its promise to tackle poverty in Ireland. Next time the usual drones criticise Dev, ask them what they and their preferred liberal/rightwing government has done to solve the housing problem. Zero.

A much, much richer Irish state today refuses to carry on that honourable tradition - instead preferring to pay hundreds of millions to private business people for providing a whole range of poor-quality, insecure, overpriced temporary accommodation rather than putting the money into building permanent homes. In 2018 the dominance of a rightwing economic ideology is the problem here. It's a lot harder to see today's fundamentalist ideology and abuse of power than it is to see the same in 1950s Ireland.

Interesting post. FF did indeed do a good job in the 1930s but I fear this would be far more difficult today. NIMBYism would ensure that any project on a large scale was held up for years. Further to this, objections, appeals and building/safety regulations unheard of in the 1930s would ensure that the project was far less efficient and successful than it was in the past.

A root and branch reform of how we build is necessary but unlike to happen as the left hate property developers and FG and FF are too spineless to say anything that might lead to a negative hashtag on twitter.

timzil

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

When you're ready to take a job in McDonalds or speak Italian in a call centre we can talk about immigration. Typically people immigrating into Ireland are productive and more than paying their way.

That completes misses my point. It gas nothing to do with racism or where these people are from. If every immigrant in ireland was named john o neill from boston or mike kelly from liverpool these people would still be increasing the demand for property. Cleary you dont understand exonomics or supply and demand

runawaybishop

timzil wrote: »

That completes misses my point. It gas nothing to do with racism or where these people are from. If every immigrant in ireland was named john o neill from boston or mike kelly from liverpool these people would still be increasing the demand for property. Cleary you dont understand exonomics or supply and demand

Clearly you are taking through your hoop. We haven't built any houses for a decade, that's why we have a shortage of house. Not because Mick and Paddy are back from Australia.

amcalester

timzil wrote: »

That completes misses my point. It gas nothing to do with racism or where these people are from. If every immigrant in ireland was named john o neill from boston or mike kelly from liverpool these people would still be increasing the demand for property. Cleary you dont understand exonomics or supply and demand

But without those jobs that the immigrants work in (that Irish people can’t/won’t) there would be no demand.

No jobs = no immigrants = no demand and so on.

Metric Tensor

WRT build costs:

The new TGD L (which governs insulation, renewable energy, etc.) will be gradually introduced from April 2019 to mid 2020. It's going to add a nice little extra bit onto the build cost of each unit.

It will make them cheaper to run though.

runawaybishop

runawaybishop wrote: »

Huh? Some universities talking ****e about toilets has nothing to do with the current housing issues.

Specifically what has the government to do with gender neutral toilets and how is that contributing to the housing shortage?

He's clearly lamenting the priorities and the cynicism of our morally superior self-declared "liberals" who prat on about all sorts of right-on marginal interest shít because economically it costs them nothing and they get that "righteousness" feeling from feigning passion about some chimera of a "cause". Meanwhile, society's serious problems such as entire families living in homeless shelters are firmly given the bodhaire Uí Laoire.

Samuel T. Cogley

timzil wrote: »

That completes misses my point. It gas nothing to do with racism or where these people are from. If every immigrant in ireland was named john o neill from boston or mike kelly from liverpool these people would still be increasing the demand for property. Cleary you dont understand exonomics or supply and demand

It doesn't matter where they're from. I'm more than happy to see people from Mayo rather than Mumbai coming to take X job but they won't. And further more it doesn't matter a person from Mayo still needs a home. I know exactly how supply and demand works and until we have a large cohort of people who say, do ya know what I'm not gonna claim the dole or go to University I'm going to flip burgers, you're going to have immigration.

On top of that we have jobs at the high end we can't keep Irish people in so we need to import those skills. This is the same stupid argument I hear about Brexit - british jobs for british people, yeah great Paul you've just created hundreds of casual farm hand jobs and got rid of IT jobs.

Immigration is generally a good thing for an economy not a bad thing. It's a bad thing for someone who can't, with all the advantages an Irish person gets, equip themselves with marketable skills.

timzil

runawaybishop wrote: »

Clearly you are taking through your hoop. We haven't built any houses for a decade, that's why we have a shortage of house. Not because Mick and Paddy are back from Australia.

I complet agree that not building housing is part of the problem(supply). But also an increase in demand(immigrants) has been a cause of the crisis. Will you at least admit that.