Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

The programme for Government commits to a referendum on housing. The Taoiseach's predecessor, Leo Varadkar, confirmed last August that "we should have an amendment to our Constitution to establish a right to housing". The Minister for housing promised a referendum in 2023 and yet the Taoiseach has told us now that no firm decision has been made on any referendums. I suspect this Government is planning to see out the rest of its term and not allow people to vote on the right to housing. That is happening in a context of Amnesty International last week highlighting the gross human rights violations caused by the housing crisis. Last Friday, Department of housing figures showed that homelessness is at an all-time high. There are 13,866 people, including 4,147 children, in emergency accommodation. Amnesty International says there is a need for a constitutional right to housing to redirect Government policy. However, the Government is not moving on it and it is blocking our Bill to insert a right to housing into the Constitution, which passed in this Dáil because its Deputies were afraid to publicly vote against it. Instead, the Government has been privately blocking it from progressing for the past three years. We need a referendum. Will the Taoiseach commit to giving it?

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