Addressing the housing crisis in Irish towns: an exploration of water infrastructure capacity challenges

Water infrastructure is a key enabling factor for housing delivery and the revitalization of town centres. This paper seeks to explore how critical infrastructure development can limit or facilitate pro- gress for ‘Increasing New Housing Supply’ and ‘Addressing Vacancy and Efficient Use of Existing Stock’ in the context of the Irish Government’s ‘Housing for All’ plan. A case study approach was adopted, and insights were taken from desktop research and semi- structured interviews with representatives of a local authority. This led to the development of the vulnerability and resilience frame- works, and suggestions for supporting successful implementation of the plan, such as the use of a broader toolkit of solutions to address capacity concerns and expanding existing capacity regis- ters beyond their current scope.