Radical proposal to solve homes crisis for key staff

EDITOR – You don’t have to be a genius to know that there is an accomodation crisis for key workers in Dublin. The wages of these key workers compared with accountants, solicitors, IT workers, engineers etc are so low that they just cannot afford to rent in Dublin and never will.

They are all frontline workers who do not have the flexibility of remote working two or three days a week. They have two choices – either suffer an expensive and stressful three-hour commute or emigrate, which they are doing in their droves. Or leave their professions altogether.

The shortage of gardaí, nurses, teachers, crèche workers etc in Dublin is now acute.

I have been, up to last year, chairman/ director of a Dublin hospital for 14 years and the shortage of nurses was always on the agenda at our directors’ meetings, and it has not gotten any better.

How the new Children’s Hospital will get sufficient staff is beyond me, especially with limited parking for everyone, not to mention the public. Nearly as many gardaí are leaving the force as are joining, whereas domestic and gangland murders are increasing, more people are dying on the roads and parts of Dublin city have been taken over by drug dealers.

And all the time our population is increasing. Getting crèches for my grandchildren and teachers for their schools is already a big problem. With increases in population forecast, together with the number of refugees, whom I personally welcome, this is going to be a proper nightmare.

By not even recognising this existing crisis the government are sleep-walking into an economic downturn for Dublin and Ireland. Multi-national executives and employees will not choose to live in a city where there is an obvious lack of frontline workers and Dublin rents are top of the affordability league.

The billions in corporation tax will slowly evaporate. There is not one political party even acknowledging there is a crisis.

Our proposal is the designation of 450 acres of Office of Public Works (OPW) and Council-owned parkland for key worker accommodation. Our proposal is restricted to apartments for rent.

We foresee the Land Development Agency building 40,000 quality, well located two-bedroom apartments in a 12-year period which can accommodate 80,000 key workers.

Importantly, these homes would always be owned by the Office of Public Works (OPW) or local authorities. We accept that our solution is somewhat controversial, but we would argue that to solve a major crisis you may need to make radical and unpopular decisions.

Paschal Taggart,
Rathgar,
Dublin.

Heart disease event has useful advice for teens

EDITOR – On Saturday, February 24th, as part of Global Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) Awareness Month, Heart Children will host its annual ‘The Beat Goes On’ conference for young people and adults with CHD, along with families.

CHD is a general term to describe over 40 different conditions or problems with the heart’s structure that are present at birth.

It affects one in every 100 babies born in Ireland each year, with approximately 500-600 children born here with the condition annually, half of whom will require open heart surgery. It is the most common birth defect in newborns worldwide. We don’t know the cause of the disease in the vast majority of babies with the condition.

However, thankfully, improvements in treatment and care mean that 90% of children with CHD in Ireland are now surviving into adulthood. The focus of the conference is on preparing young people with CHD to make the transition from child to adult support services.

There will be three separate event programmes for young people with CHD, adults over 25 years with CHD, and families. Among the topics set to feature are how to manage your own continuing medical care, the dos and don’ts of being a teenager with CHD, and how to advocate for yourself as a person with a silent disability.

The conference, in conjunction with the Children’s Heart Centre, CHI Crumlin, and the Adult Congenital Heart Disease Unit, Mater Hospital, is free of charge and will take place in Chartered Accountants House, Pearse Street, Dublin 2, from 10 to 3pm. To register for the conference, or to find out about the services and supports offered by Heart Children, visit www.heartchildren.ie or telephone 01 874 0990. Thank you for allowing me to let the readers of The Southern Star know about his important event.

Sheila Campbell,
Chief executive,
Heart Children,
Dublin 7.

Why we need to urgently address world's population

EDITOR – My father was one of 13 children, and my mother was one of four. I was one of three, and my wife was one of two. The world is grossly overpopulated with people. In about 1600 world population was only approximately 500,000,000 while today it is more than 8bn.

Very early in my life (I am in my 80s now) I decided that two should not produce more than two, and I had a vasectomy to ensure that I had no more. I now think that, due to the fact that people are living much longer than they did, two should not produce more than one.

We need to see a massive reduction in the world population, and governments must take urgent action to achieve this, at the same time as action to cover the fact that a smaller number of working people will have to support the larger number of retirees.

A couple of suggestions in this respect: The max working age to be increased year by year, to 70, and the OAP not to commence until that date. Secondly, no couple should be allowed to have more than one child.

Mike Hogg,
Cooldurragha,
Union Hall.