Dr Rory Hearne explains his idea for a new State-owned home building agency

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Building houses - the solution to the housing crisis. But how? Photograph: iStock
Building houses - the solution to the housing crisis. But how? Photograph: iStock

Everyone has - in theory - a solution to the housing crisis. The one thing that is certain is that we need more houses. How they can be delivered is not so certain. Academics Dr Rory Hearne and Phil Murphy wrote an OpEd for the Irish Times arguing that the solution lies in the establishment of a State agency whose sole responsibility throughout the country is housebuilding.

They write “a key solution is the Irish State getting back into delivering housing on a major scale through local authorities and housing associations and also new approaches that can deliver rapid results”. Their suggested name for this entity is Homes for Ireland: the Irish Sustainable Home Building Agency.

So how would it work and is the political appetite there for such a plan? Hearne talks through the details with Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan.

Bernice Harrison

Bernice Harrison

Bernice Harrison is an Irish Times journalist and cohost of In the News podcast