Having worked at the National Asset Management Agency (Nama) just after the banking crash, it is clear that Martin Whelan hasn’t shied away from challenging briefs during his time in public service.

So when the role of chief executive of the Housing Agency opened up, he threw his name into the hat. “I knew coming into this role that housing is high profile, that housing is challenging, but in order to make an impact, I think you have to put yourself out there,” he tells The Irish Times from his office on Mount Street Upper in Dublin, with the sounds of the bustling city he now calls home drifting in through the open window.

“The decisions we make now will determine where we are in five years, in 10 years, in 15 years.”

Whelan grew up in Abbeyleix, Co Laois, before moving to the capital for university and has “never looked back”. During his student days, he got his first taste of an industry that has remained a theme throughout his career: housing.

“I did all the things a young student in Dublin does – lived in bedsits, house shares and above Chinese restaurants,” he says.

He ventured into lecturing after graduating.

Through his time lecturing, Whelan developed a “real interest in policy, policy execution and public affairs”.

But it was a directorship with the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) in the early 2000s – during a time when “the housing bubble began to get more intense” – that really set the tone for his career.

“That was a key milestone for me. After the crash, I took up a job with Nama and was really highly motivated as the country was in a very challenging space.

“Nama was, from my perspective, a key part of the resolution of Ireland’s difficulties,” he adds, reflecting on a “really intense” portion of his career. The role gave him the opportunity to play a formative part in the start-up phase of the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) before mov