A gift from the Irish taxpayer

Under the terms of Minister John Gormley's new housing bill, measures will be introduced to enable people who qualify for social housing and cannot afford to buy under the affordable housing scheme get on the "property ladder". Local authority houses will be offered to their tenants at a knock down price, most likely 40%. The remaining equity will then be ceded to them gradually over a number of years until they own the property outright.

In the current economic climate this seems to be an extraordinarily generous offer to make on behalf of the Irish taxpayer. There are many serious housing issues that we face in Irish society - homelessness, extended housing lists, atrocious planning, lack of essential services, dodgy management companies etc, but a low rate of home ownership isn't one of them. Ireland has one of the highest rates of home ownership in the world, far higher than most of our European partners. So why are we making it a priority to get social welfare recipients on to the property ladder? For whose benefit?

Every citizen has a right to a roof over his or her head, but they don't have an automatic right to own it. That is something that most people have to work and save for, and it is up to each household individually to decide if the sacrifices are worth making, and if they don't want to and decide to rent instead, then, so what? What's wrong with renting? The average rent is a great deal less than the average mortgage which makes renting sensible in some cases, but the government is now creating a form of social injustice by giving wealth in the form of houses to a small section of society for no reason other than to reinforce the myth that owning property is a public right. Why? If the price of houses is too high then leave the market alone and let it come down to a reasonable level. Why is the government proposing to spend hundreds of millions of our euros trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist?

Manhattan in Ballsbridge?

What is it with Irish councillors? For years developers have been building ugly housing estates, with no facilities, in the middle of nowhere, and councillors have been bending over backwards to facilitate them - often against the advice of their own Planning Officers. Now a developer proposes a ground breaking, ambitious, and potentially iconic new development on the Jury's/Berkely Court Hotel site in Ballsbridge, within walking distance of the center of Dublin. The proposed development includes a luxury hotel, underground shopping facilities, an "art house cinema", a jazz club, an art gallery, artists' studios, and a European Centre for Culture. With its impressive centre piece an irregular shaped tower, "cut like a diamond", in the words of its architect, Ulrik Raysse, the project has great architectural merit. The reaction of councillors is typically perverse - they don't like it.

The proposed development would providing 536 apartments, many of them large enough for family living, which, as the developer, Sean Dunne stated, would play its part in the need to "halt the drastic, unsustainable urban sprawl of Dublin" all over Leinster. One councillor, Paddy McCartan, said that the proposed development was "a grandiose plan ill-suited for Ballsbridge adding that, if approved "You would seriously end up with Manhattan". Indeed, why have Manhattan when you can have Clondalkin? Why have grandiose when you can have dull and mediocre instead? Mr McCartan also commented that he was old enough to remember attempts to destroy Georgian Dublin, Hume Street and Wood Quay. I think a lot of Dubliners would join with Mr McCartan in decrying the destruction of Dublin's architectural heritage. But, in this instance, only a couple of ugly, outmoded hotels are at stake. Change isn't always bad. councillors would be wrong to dismiss this one out of hand.

Minister Roche living in another world.

Minister for the Environment, Dick Roche, at the annual Engineers Ireland Conference said yesterday, "If you are looking for an exemplar of a country that can grow democratically and at the same time develop environmental sustainability, we're as good an examplar as you'll find." An interesting claim considering the European Environment Agency recently identified Dublin's urban sprawl as a "worst-case scenario" in city planning, and is using Dublin as an example of what not to do when it comes to urban planning. In a study designed to help new EU member states like Poland avoid making the same mistakes, it also said that "extremely passive" planning policies have led to undesirable urban sprawl in towns and villages throughout Ireland. In light of this it might be helpful if Mr Roche could tell us in what parallel universe Ireland is such an exemplar of environmental sustainability. Maybe someone could go there and find out what they were doing right.

Smoking Ban

So the smoking ban has been in place for three long years. Michael Martin marked its anniversary by proclaiming the nation's success in turning his brave vision into reality. Lofty claims were made at the time of its implementation as to the effect it would have on Irish society. It is a pleasure now to look back in the fullness of time and see how these predictions have come to pass.

The smoking ban will save the Health Service: “The introduction of a smoking ban in the Irish workplace, as announced by Minister Martin to-day, could in time be viewed as the most important health initiative undertaken this century by an Irish Government.” said Professor Luke Clancy, Chairperson of ASH Ireland. Prescient words indeed. As we all know, this is exactly how it turned out. The health service was in such a robust condition by the time Mr Martin was finished with it that he could happily hand over the running of it to some mortal called Harney. Mr Martin exited the ministry with the sound of praise ringing in his ears. The actor Brendan Gleeson, on the Late Late Show, was particularly lavish in his praise, even if he did inadvertently refer to the Minister as a moron. The smoking ban cannot take all the credit though. Mr Martin's brave policy of commissioning countless reports and task forces, no matter what the cost, also contributed to his success as Health Minister. However, as the smoking ban had such a salubrious effect on the health of the nation, it turned out he didn't need to bother implementing any of their recommendations.

The smoking ban will benefit the Hospitality Sector: "Business is booming since the smoking ban." Say publicans. "Particularly in rural Ireland." In fact, a new pub is being opened in rural Ireland every week.

Levels of smoking will decrease: Statistics have borne this out. In fact, arguably the one negative effect of the ban has been the reduction in taxes earned from cigarette sales since its introduction. Smoking areas in pubs are left empty as young people congregate in the non-smoking interiors to socialise and meet new friends. "It would almost make me consider giving up" said one young smoker.

Success indeed. In other news, President Bush receives the Nobel Peace Prize; Dublin voted cheapest city in Europe wide survey; and Borat leads St Patrick's day parade in Kasakhstan.