Housing

John Walsh: Solving key bottlenecks will unlock our housing system

Until we address specific recurring issues around finance, infrastructure and relationships with developers, our property market will remain dysfunctional

Construction activity in Ireland is expected to reach roughly 25,000 this year, but it is still well below the 35,000 units needed annually to meet demand. Picture: Shutterstock/Neil Mitchell

The housing crisis can partly be traced back to AIB’s 2001 annual general meeting. The bank’s chief executive and the rest of the management team faced a minor shareholder revolt. Even though Michael Buckley had unveiled a healthy performance for the previous financial year, shareholders were unhappy with AIB’s slice of the burgeoning property development market. Unflattering comparisons were made with Anglo Irish Bank, which even at that relatively embryonic stage of the boom was ...