Ireland can learn valuable and positive lessons on housing from cities such as Vienna, a Raise the Roof seminar heard today (June 21).
The Raise the Roof seminar was organised in conjunction with the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Alison Gilliland, and hosted in the Mansion House.
The seminar heard from a range of speakers on the lessons to be learned from cities such as Vienna, which prioritises affordability in housing and invests consistently in public housing provision.
Among the speakers were: Lord Mayor, Alison Gilliland; Kevin Callinan, President, Irish Congress Trade Unions (ICTU); Christian Schantl of Wiener Wohnen, Vienna’s largest housing association; Professor Michelle Norris, Geary Institute, UCD; Dr Lorcan Sirr, Technological University of Dublin; Coílín O'Reilly, Assistant Chief Executive, Dublin City Council.
The Lord Mayor stressed the need for a greater role and powers for local authorities, in terms of resolving the current housing crisis, while Kevin Callinan, Irish Congress of Trade Unions President, Kevin Callinan said it was essential that delivery of affordable homes to buy and rent became the key priority of housing policy here, especially in the context of the cost of living crisis.
Responding to Wiener Wohnen’s Christian Schantl, Professor Michelle Norris said Vienna’s consistently strong investment in public and affordable housing was a key lesson for Ireland, particularly given the collapse of public housing output here after the 2008 Crash.
Dr Lorcan Sirr highlighted the low and declining levels of new homes available to purchase and noted that the current dependence on private developers for housing provision had ‘hardwired’ high prices into the housing market.
Coílín O’Reilly of Dublin City Council outlined current plans in the capital with regard to housing output and the difficulties of dealing with vacant properties, given existing legislation around the issue.
Photograph: Dublin Lord Mayor, Alison Gilliland; Coílín O'Reilly, Assistant Chief Executive, Dublin City Council; Professor Michelle Norris, Geary Institute, UCD; Dr. Lorcan Sirr, Technological University of Dublin.
