REDUCE the national debt or build more social housing? Reduce the national debt or build more social housing? Reduce the national debt or BUILD MORE SOCIAL HOUSING? You can see which way this is going.

Sometimes in life, spending money is unavoidable - even when caution is preferable. It may even be necessary to borrow for spending - not a sound policy in general but there's a difference between "good" and "bad" borrowing.

Good borrowing is buying something which will increase in value over time. Bad borrowing is the reverse. However, it's a blunt instrument. For example, cars fall into the bad borrowing category but what if somebody couldn't hold down a job without one? By the same token, lifting citizens out of homelessness is a cause worth borrowing for - especially with rates at an historic low.

If Ireland was a house, it would have a leaky roof and rising damp. The externals look appealing: the front door is painted a glossy colour and the garden is well-kept, but some of the fundamentals are in substandard condition.

Consider the state we're in. The economy is roaring ahead and Brexit is doing as well as can be expected (touch wood, and good work by Simon Coveney and the civil servants). But a number of elephantine problems, particularly in housing and health, can't be disguised. Quite soon, those troubles are going to erupt and the Government will either fall or seek to seize the initiative by calling an early election. Right now, it's hanging by a thread - the next no-confidence motion will collapse the coalition.

This has been a period of missed opportunity. Looking back, I suspect we'll regard it as a turning point - a time when decisive action could have been taken to change outcomes. But that chance was allowed to slide.

Some key figures emerged this week. Number one: there are now 10,514 homeless people, including families with young children. This doesn't include those in direct provision, squats, women's shelters or rough sleepers. Number two: the State has a surplus of almost €1.45bn for the first 11 months of 2019. The Exchequer has taken in higher than expected amounts of corporation tax because of multinational activity.

Paschal Donohoe intends using it to reduce Ireland's national debt gradually, while maintaining capital expenditure - a sensible plan in principle. Not least because new international rules about where multinationals pay tax are imminent, meaning Ireland's golden goose will shed some of its fat. And because corporation tax is a volatile income stream, a small number of companies - primarily Apple, Google, Microsoft, Dell and Oracle - are delivering the bulk of the revenue.

The Finance Minister's reasoning is sound and he has absorbed the lessons of the bust. But sometimes in life exceptions must be made, and the bottom line on the spreadsheet set aside. In the thick of a housing crisis, prudence cannot be the only yardstick. It is short-sighted for the State to shirk building social and affordable housing.

Let's consider the explosion in corporation tax. Receipts have almost doubled since 2012. The money has been a godsend - but where are the long-term benefits? A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do something permanent with this bonanza is being lost. We could be housing our citizens. Instead, the income is frittering away on day-to-day spending, or unpardonable overruns such as the national children's hospital and, on a lesser scale but also indefensible, the Oireachtas printer overspend. For a State-directed housing programme, we'd also need to borrow, but on the plus side rates to do so are at an all-time low. Virtually zero.

Granted, the markets don't differentiate between good and bad borrowing and Ireland is €200bn in debt. But we're facing a national emergency and none of the existing solutions is working. Are we really prepared to stand over a situation where babies are born into homelessness, as Independent TD Peter Fitzpatrick said during Tuesday's no-confidence debate? It's happening because the Government is aping Tory policies - refusing to accept it needs to play a pro-active role in building affordable housing. That them-and-us attitude is reflected in Dublin City Council, which voted to build a white water rafting facility in the Docklands at a cost of €23m. This, in a city where homelessness is rampant. The disconnect and empathy deficit are astounding. The State is failing those who need social housing, and perhaps Fine Gael doesn't care because there aren't votes in it for the party; but the Government is also failing some of the "people who get up early in the morning", a demographic Leo Varadkar has referenced as his target market.

Home ownership is a mirage for many young people trapped in expensive rental accommodation, spending up to €2,000 a month on rent and struggling to save towards a deposit on their own place. They are delaying parenthood while they save - with potential consequences. Those who do have children are crippled by childcare costs.

Let's not forget there are profits to be made from the housing crisis. More than half of all new apartments are sold to investors who will rent them out - cuckoo funds which are squeezing young people out of the home-ownership market. Last week, builder Glenveagh sold 87 new units in Dundrum, south Dublin, to a German property fund which will lease them to Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council for social housing. Why isn't that local authority building houses?

Some people, we learn, are relocating to commuter-belt counties where property is cheaper. Their solution is causing infrastructure problems to mount. Schools and transport links face pressure from the influx, according to Banking and Payments Federation Ireland.

As a short-term fix, but sure to be popular with voters, the Government would welcome a relaxation of the Central Bank lending restrictions. The Taoiseach has said the rules are "very tough" on young couples. This newspaper has reported that Dublin first-time buyers must raise a deposit of €51,000 on average and €37,000 in commuterland.

On Wednesday, the Central Bank made it clear it won't be budging. It is Ireland's financial Cerberus and has the State's best interests at heart - some 28,000 mortgages remain in arrears of two-plus years, a boom-and-bust legacy. In any case, the shortage of affordable housing isn't due to the Central Bank's stance on lending restrictions. Lack of supply is the issue.

So, a general election is on the cards after January 31, when Brexit is supposed to "get done". Until then, the minority Government will hold on by a thread. But its floundering housing policy is causing enormous damage to our society. And sooner or later, the electorate will push in the walls of an administration which fails to recognise 10,514 homeless people as fellow members of the human race.

Irish Independent