The great challenge of my generation will be to buy a home or even to move out of our parents’ homes in our twenties. The housing crisis will have profound long-term socio-economic consequences for this country.

Working with national services our Council can deliver streamlined homeless services in Wicklow to ensure resources are reaching those most in needs. These services are already manned by excellent people, but we need to ensure that they’re provided with the right infrastructure to allow them to do their jobs and eliminate homelessness in all its forms.

This crisis has developed due to decades of lack of vision and foresight about the future needs of the Capital. Dublin has developed as a rolling sprawl of semi-detached estates; when really Dublin needed more apartments within urban areas well serviced by public transport.

The underutilisation of land density on the DART line has pushed the suburbs to Bray, with the vast majority of people in Wicklow now commuting to Dublin, putting pressure on our transport networks. This is only going one way and we need to take the necessary steps to ensure North Wicklow’s heritage and green space is protected. Wicklow County Council needs to collaborate more with Dun-Laoghaire Rathdown County Council to better use land densities in areas like Sandyford, Dundrum and Carrickmines, which have huge potential for new homes.