The current acting Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny has officially announced that he his fully committed to appointing a new Cabinet Minister for Housing, if he is elected to lead the new government.
Mr Kenny’s announcement comes as he is currently looking to gain more support to form a minority coalition.
The acting Taoiseach has also revealed he will indeed sit down his fellow ministers and publish a housing crisis plan within the first three months of taking.
Mr Kenny told reporters that this “housing initiative” would be based on the outgoing government’s jobs plan which cut unemployment. The Fine Gael leader also said he hopes to appoint a senior minister responsible for housing issues and he also hopes that all political parties will collaborate.
Mr Kenny said: “The nature of the crisis will require a collective approach and I would hope that the design of this new initiative will be informed by input from all Oireachtas members and other stakeholders interested in working for solutions.”
The news of the imminent arrival of the first ever housing minister will most likely be welcomed by homeless advocacy groups nationwide as they have issued numerous calls to the previous government to address the issue of homelessness, by appointing a senior figure to deal with spiraling rent prices.