Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Housing Commission has completed its work on a referendum in respect of housing. I commend the work of the commission. I tabled this matter to give the Minister and the Government an opportunity to discuss the right to housing being enshrined in the Constitution, which the Seanad supported by way of a motion earlier this term. Often, Private Members' referendum Bills in the Dáil from Sinn Féin and others have been defeated by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. I understand that a majority report of the Housing Commission was delivered to the Minister in September and that a minority report representing the dissenting views of two members of the commission was delivered in November. Will the Minister of State please outline why there has been such a delay in publishing the report? Can he offer a timeframe for its publication? Will he confirm that it is indeed a recommendation of the Housing Commission to insert a right to housing into the Constitution?