There is a “correlation” between rising immigration and Ireland’s housing shortage, Tánaiste Simon Harris has said.
Speaking to reporters at the launch of the Government’s new infrastructure delivery plan at Government Buildings in Dublin, Harris said that if infrastructure isn’t delivered, it’s going to damage “social cohesion”.
Asked if he was referring to people who make anti-immigration arguments, Harris clarified: “No, I’m not.”
He added: “Though it’s not an unfair point to make that at a time when you have a growing population, more people coming to our country and a shortage of housing, that there is a correlation in terms of the scale of challenge that can pose.”
However, he explained that what was more likely to damage social cohesion was the relative strength of the economy compared to the State’s failure to supply infrastructure for citizens.
“I’m more thinking of the fact that we live in a wealthy country that is in the very fortunate position many countries are not in: to be able to continue to deliver expansionary budgets, spend more on public services, make targeted interventions in relation to tax, and set money aside to make sure the country is economically resilient,” he said.
“And yet there are so many people around our country who are yearning to access public services that often require capital investment, often around the enabling infrastructure – water, wastewater, energy. And I do think that damages social cohesion.”
He added: “And I think those of us who believe in politics of the centre, for the centre to hold, need to show an ability to accelerate delivery. That’s the point I’m making.”
Harris’ remarks contrast starkly with those of Housing Minister James Browne, who in October told Gript that migration was only a “small part” of the housing issue.
“I certainly wouldn’t be laying blame”, Browne said at the time.