To say the Government has made a less than sure-footed start on the housing issue would be an understatement. The row over the appointment to head the new Housing Activation Office – the so called tsar – has shown an administration casting around for solutions and not quite sure what to do. It can see the problems – they are clear – but dealing with them is another matter entirely. It knows it has to do something, but it not entirely sure what “it” is. The ham-fisted political handling of this week’s events is hard to credit. The Government has struggled for answers on where responsibility will lie between the new office, the Department of Housing and the Minister. It also found itself caught up in an entirely predictable debate over what the new appointee would be paid. Then came a row between the Government parties, with Fine Gael blocking the appointment of Brendan McDonagh of Nama – the Minister for Housing’s favoured nominee – to head the office. McDonagh later rang the Minister to say he no longer wished to be considered for the role. It has, in short, turned into a mess entirely of the Government’s own making. No doubt a head for the office will be found. But it has been a dreadful start for the Government’s housing policy. How on earth can an administration at odds with itself organise itself to tackle such a multifaceted crisis ? READ MORE This Government is now, in part, dealing with the failures of its predecessor and its unwillingness to recognise that sufficient progress was not being made – and doing something about it. In turn, there is no momentum now in housebuilding and signs of panic in the Coalition. All the Government can do now is get on with it. It is vital that the State is set on the right course to deliver housing at scale and, even if this will take time to show up in the housing completion numbers, this it could be 2026 or later before the answer to this is clear. Housing is an issue which clearly cannot be solved within one electoral cycle. The question is, come the next general election, whether this Coalition can show that the State is now on the right course. In the meantime, the political pressure will build. A key task for the Government is to demonstrate that it can start to get to grips with the issue in an organised and determined way. And that through its actions – and not just its rhetoric – it really is treating housing as a crisis. The terms under which the new Housing Activation Office will operate will be important. There is already a Department of Housing, a Minister and other bodies on the pitch. Clarity on who is responsible for what is the first big decision. After, of course, finding someone to take the top job