Sir, – Following on from his pledge to “look at” introducing a living wage to tackle income inequality, Taoiseach Micheál Martin is promising to build houses to provide roofs over the heads of the less well-off (“Government aims for 25,000 new homes to be built next year”, News, December 29th). The lack of a clear plan to mobilise the resources of the State to achieve the objective of ensuring that every citizen can access secure housing reinforces the feeling that these promises are no more than virtual confetti-throwing to sate an increasingly disaffected part of the electorate and deflect criticism. It also lends credence to the view that Mr Martin is a political leader who believes it is sufficient to only offer hope rather than substance. – Yours, etc,
JIM O’SULLIVAN ,
Rathedmond,
Sligo.