Tuesday’s inauguration of President Catherine Connolly paraded one of the essential elements of our democracy: after fiercely contested elections, all the political players come together to affirm not just the consent of the losers to the outcome, but a shared faith in the institutions on which rests the edifice of our political and public life.
The new President carried it all off with aplomb and assurance. She also served notice on the Government, solemnly ranged behind her on the dais in St Patrick’s Hall, that she will speak out as she sees fit on political and policy issues, referencing – for a start – neutrality, a right to housing, the Irish language, Irish unification and the failures of public services. If she follows through on that – as many of her voters certainly want her to – this will be a new front in Irish politics.
It will also be a rallying point for the parties of the left which, after the disappointment of seeing Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil return to power earlier this year, have been growing in clout and confidence – and in co-operation. There has been a tidal shift against the centre parties since they returned to Government, and momentum counts for a lot in politics.
But however much the parties of the left move closer to forming a combined alternative for government, and no matter what the new President says, the biggest challenge facing the Coalition is not anything their opponents do or say: it is their own inability to deliver on housing and infrastructure. And although the administration was only formed 10 months ago, the lead time on construction projects means they are already running out of time to fix it.
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There are signs that the Coalition’s leaders get this. Certainly, from what I hear around the corridors of Leinster House, their backbenchers get it. In Fianna Fáil, the middle-ground TDs who will be decisive in any heave against Micheál Martin seem a good deal more agitated about housing and infrastructure than they are about Jim Gavin’s media training. But can the Ministers change structures to unlock the building everyone agrees is needed?
Along with a series of changes already made so far this year, the Government’s housing plan, launched on Thursday, was a step forward. But it will not, on its own, convince anyone.
Perhaps more important will be the infrastructure plan, and the related changes it promises. In recent months, work has been proceeding at a fast pace to map out a way to deliver infrastructure quickly. The Accelerating Infrastructure Taskforce, set up by Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers less than six months ago, has completed its report, which is expected to be published shortly.
The group includes figures with long experience of the private sector such as former Glen Dimplex chief executive Sean O’Driscoll, as well as senior officials and representatives from bodies such as Uisce Éireann, the Land Development Agency, the National Transport Authority and ESB Networks.
When the group sought submissions at the start of the summer, it immediately found that many of them were saying the same thing, giving the same reasons why they had been frustrated in their efforts to build things: bureaucracy piling delay on delay; public projects funded on an annual basis, so depriving them of certainty; inconsistencies in planning; the increasing prevalence of judicial reviews; the proliferation of authorities with regulatory functions, and so on.
The Greater Dublin drainage project, for example, which is now not expected until 2032 at the earliest, has had to deal with 55 different regulatory authorities, the group was told. It has been judicially reviewed twice.
The proposed new apartment regulations which should trigger a wave of apartment building have also been challenged by a group of Labour and Green councillors. Talk about making the perfect the enemy of the good. They should ask people living in their parents’ box room if apartments absolutely have to have balconies.
[ The debate: Does every apartment really need a balcony?Opens in new window ]
It’s the judicial reviews that you hear most of the complaints about and restricting these time-consuming challenges is likely to be among the recommendations of the infrastructure group. I understand that it will also recommend other sweeping reforms, up to and including emergency powers for the Government in some cases.
In addition, the group has agreed to stay on to supervise the implementation of the plans. There will be a time-bound plan with clear deadlines, clear reporting and transparency over who is responsible.
Accelerated implementation will be essential. That will mean not just emergency powers legislation, but legislation passed at an emergency pace, using frequent guillotines in the Dáil and Seanad. This is sometimes not a recipe for good lawmaking. But what matters here is results. It’s either an emergency or it’s not.
It will be apparent quickly from the pace of action whether the Government is serious about making this a real game-changer. How much the proposed reforms arouse heated opposition will also be an indication of their usefulness. If nobody is complaining, nothing much is going to change. Sure, cutting regulation and bureaucracy is not without its downsides. But the system as it currently works is a disaster for hundreds of thousands of people who don’t have a home of their own.
It will be the defining challenge for the Government. The recent presidential election showed just how willing voters – especially those under 40 who are experiencing the sharp edge of the housing crisis – will be to abandon the stolid certainties of the parties who have governed for a century.
In the US, the government shutdown ended this week. In Ireland the Government slowdown never seems to end. Well, that will have to change. Unless it can make rapid and sustained progress over the coming months in implementing reforms that facilitate a complete step change in homebuilding, the Coalition will have no future.
Nor, frankly, will it deserve one.
