Securing Fairness and Wellbeing in a Land of Plenty 2005 View- Housing

Housing: The Case for a New Philosophy P. J. Drudy

A great deal has been said and written about housing over the last

fifteen years. A comprehensive review and critique of housing policy

was produced by the late John Blackwell for the National Economic

and Social Council in 1988 (NESC, 1988). Ten years later detailed

overviews of the housing problem and an evaluation of housing policy

were produced by Downey (1998) and O’Sullivan (1999). Three

Reports commissioned by the Government were produced by Peter

Bacon and Associates dealing almost exclusively with owner-occupied

housing (Bacon, 1998, 1999 and 2000). A useful study on social

housing and its management has been published (Fahey et al., 1999).

The four Dublin Local Authorities published a set of recommendations

relating to housing in the Dublin area.

An independent Housing Commission (Drudy et al. 1999) and the National Economic and

Social Forum (NESF, 2000) also published detailed assessments. A

government-commissioned Report appeared on the privately rented

sector (Commission on the Private Rented Residential Sector, 2000) as

did an important study by McCashin (McCashin, 2000).