Lives disrupted by insecure accommodation

Perhaps the worst thing that could happen is that we start to think of the housing crisis as a perennial (or worse, a ‘wicked’) problem; one that can be alleviated but never solved. Problems that continue can too easily become normalised. Over the last five years, the challenges have become more acute and are most visible in the rising numbers who are without any home. Five years ago, there were 2,500 homeless people in Ireland and today this stands at more than 10,000, the largest demographic being children under five. This figure excludes many other categories of homeless, including those sleeping rough

Planning Gain and Obligations: Promise and Performance of Part V (Social & Affordable Housing)

Planning gain is based on the idea that land values are enhanced by the actions of the state or community, for example, through land use zoning and infrastructure provision, both of which increase the value of land.Landowners may have done little to cause an uplift in land value and may achieve what are called ‘windfall gains’ when land is purchased by a developer. There are many methods of seeking to capture some of this value uplift for the community and one is to impose planning obligations to develop social and affordable housing as a condition of planning consent. Such housing can be on the site of the relevant planning permission or elsewhere in the locality.As developers will factor in the planning obligations as part of their development appraisal, such obligations will result in a lower land price to the landowner, and planning obligations attempt to capture the difference between the market and existing use value of land. However, this depends on the assumption that the state is paying actual, as opposed to inflated, land values for Part V housing. If the state pays inflated prices this, in turn, inflates land values and undermines the objectives of Part V. The primary aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000 and, in particular, to assess how it has operated since the major reforms made as part of the Urban Regeneration and Housing Act 2015.Clúid Housin

Serendipitous identification of natural intergenotypic recombinants of hepatitis C in Ireland

Background: Recombination between hepatitis C single stranded RNA viruses is a rare event. Natural viable intragenotypic and intergenotypic recombinants between 1b-1a, 1a-1c and 2k-1b, 2i-6p, respectively, have been reported. Diagnostically recombinants represent an intriguing challenge. Hepatitis C genotype is defined by interrogation of the sequence composition of the 5' untranslated region [5' UTR]. Occasionally, ambiguous specimens require further investigation of the genome, usually by interrogation of the NS5B region. The original purpose of this study was to confirm the existence of a suspected mixed genotype infection of genotypes 2 and 4 by clonal analysis at the NS5B region of the genome in two specimens from two separate individuals. This initial identification of genotype was based on analysis of the 5' UTR of the genome by reverse line probe hybridisation [RLPH].Results: The original diagnosis of a mixed genotype infection was not confirmed by clonal analysis of the NS5B region of the genome. The phylogenetic analysis indicated that both specimens were natural intergenotypic recombinant forms of HCV. The recombination was between genotypes 2k and 1b for both specimens. The recombination break point was identified as occurring within the NS2 region of the genome. Conclusion: The viral recombinants identified here resemble the recombinant form originally identified in Russia. The RLPH pattern observed in this study may be a signature indicative of this particular type of intergenotype recombinant of hepatitis C meriting clonal analysis of NS2

What were the historical reasons for the resistance to recognizing airborne transmission during the COVID‐19 pandemic?

The question of whether SARS‐CoV‐2 is mainly transmitted by droplets or aerosols has been highly controversial. We sought to explain this controversy through a historical analysis of transmission research in other diseases. For most of human history, the dominant paradigm was that many diseases were carried by the air, often over long distances and in a phantasmagorical way. This miasmatic paradigm was challenged in the mid to late 19th century with the rise of germ theory, and as diseases such as cholera, puerperal fever, and malaria were found to actually transmit in other ways. Motivated by his views on the importance of contact/droplet infection, and the resistance he encountered from the remaining influence of miasma theory, prominent public health official Charles Chapin in 1910 helped initiate a successful paradigm shift, deeming airborne transmission most unlikely. This new paradigm became dominant. However, the lack of understanding of aerosols led to systematic errors in the interpretation of research evidence on transmission pathways. For the next five decades, airborne transmission was considered of negligible or minor importance for all major respiratory diseases, until a demonstration of airborne transmission of tuberculosis (which had been mistakenly thought to be transmitted by droplets) in 1962. The contact/droplet paradigm remained dominant, and only a few diseases were widely accepted as airborne before COVID‐19: those that were clearly transmitted to people not in the same room. The acceleration of interdisciplinary research inspired by the COVID‐19 pandemic has shown that airborne transmission is a major mode of transmission for this disease, and is likely to be significant for many respiratory infectious diseases

Review of Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan

The Rebuilding Ireland Plan assumes capacity, competency and functioning systems in the construction sector and property market. As a priority these assumptions must be interrogated

Submission to the Public Consultation on the National Risk Register 2017

This submission is a contribution to the National Risk Assessment in the context of: "Environmental risks include climate change; the risk of exposure to rising energy costs, particularly in the context of Brexit; risks inherent in the continued housing supply constraint; and risks that could arise from under-investment in economic and social infrastructure". It is in two parts: Part A- Energy performance standards, systems to achieve EU Energy and Climate objectives and compliance in new-build construction, and Part B- Construction standards, public safety and environmental protection

Opening Statement to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning & Local Goverment: General Scheme of Construction Industry Register Ireland (CIRI) Bill 2017

A sustainable and robust construction industry needs an effective building control system, an efficient construction sector, a flexible labour market, and a 'fighting fund' for remedying defects. Any one part cannot be looked at in isolation. Regulation of certain professions, trades, builders and developers is necessary, in the interests of public safety, environmental protection and consumers. Restrictions on activities must be justifiable and proportionate. Targeted robust regulation is required in specific areas of high risk, the legacy of defective and dangerous buildings cannot be repeated. In order to rebuild trust in the construction industry, systems must be fully independent, transparent and subject to oversight

Expert Witness: Joint Oireachtas Housing Committee on Building Standards, Fire Safety & Ventilation October 2018

Fire safety is the most visible type of building failure; other building failures, that are damaging to health and to the environment, often go unreported because they are not so visible and because they play out in private. They need the same attention in public policy, particularly where there are new and emerging risks