Ms Maeve Regan:

The Mercy Law Resource Centre thanks the committee for its invitation to make a presentation. The centre strongly welcomed the establishment of this important committee and believes a cross-party approach to housing and homelessness is crucial.

The Mercy Law Resource Centre is an independent law centre which provides free legal help for people who are homeless or facing homelessness. Since its establishment seven years ago, the centre has legally advised and represented more than 3,900 individuals and families who were facing homelessness.

The focus of this presentation is a report on the right to housing launched by the Mercy Law Resource Centre last week, on which we worked for approximately two years. I understand members have received copies of the report. I note Mr. Fintan Drury spoke briefly about the right to housing and we are glad he endorsed the idea of protecting the right to housing in a much more formal manner than is currently the case. Our report was launched in what is a desperate homelessness crisis. It discusses what we consider to be an important protection against a recurrence of this type of crisis.

We have not had a homelessness crisis comparable to the current crisis since the foundation of the State. I will briefly provide some context.

The crisis in homelessness appears to have become evident in the early months of 2014 and has grown month on month since then. As a snapshot, between December 2014 and December 2015 there was a net increase in the number of people who were homeless of 1,700 people, an increase of 43%. According to the most recent figures, as noted in our report, in February 2016 some 5,811 people were homeless, 3,930 adults, 912 families and 1,881 children.

In a recent address about the crisis in homelessness, President Michael D. Higgins described it as the most pressing of all the manifestations of inequality in Ireland, nothing less than a fundamental challenge to the legitimacy of institutions and morality of the State. That is the context in which we launched the report and made this proposal in a very grounded way.

There is no right to housing in Irish law. Our report assessed the protection of the right to housing in Irish law and outlines the impact that a constitutional right to housing would have. In watching the committee work we hear over and over again that the crisis is due to a failure of policy. In our view the protection of the right to housing would be a positive, strong step for the future to create enduring fundamental protection of the home for every adult and child. The Mercy Law Resource Centre calls for the protection of the right to housing in the Constitution to be a key priority of the new Dáil. The invitation to discuss and tease out this issue is welcome.

A right to housing in the Constitution would not mean the right to a key to a home for all. A constitutional right to housing would, however, put in place a basic floor of protection. It would require the State in its decisions and in its policies to protect the right to housing in balance with other rights. We are speaking here on behalf of the Mercy Law Resource Centre, an independent law centre providing free legal help for people who are homeless or facing homelessness. The centre has been established for the past seven years. Every week for the past two years we meet individuals and families who are homeless who are sleeping in their cars or who are every day looking for accommodation for that night. "Night to night" is the term used. Every day these people are looking for somewhere to sleep at night. They include families with infants and very young babies. The committee is aware of that. The families and people we are helping in this acutely distressing situation are cast adrift. We are helping them because they have been cast adrift, having been told by the local authority that there is no emergency accommodation available or that they do not qualify for emergency accommodation. There is a refusal to provide them with that basic protection.

We meet families who are being accommodated for prolonged and indefinite periods in one room in hotels and bed and breakfast accommodation. That is grossly inappropriate for their needs, their health and their dignity and they cannot cook for themselves. Often they are long distances from schools. For the children that journey to school may be one they simply cannot take. In recent months we have seen a further evolution of the problem. The families and children we represent are in that accommodation for long periods of nine to 18 months with no end in sight. The severe effects on their mental and physical health mean they are going downhill. That is a new evolving problem we will face.

In regard to private rented accommodation, Deputy Kathleen Funchion mentioned the difficulty for children having to move around. When that is translated into emergency accommodation and night-to-night accommodation, we still do not know the full effects that will have on families and children. There is no right to housing in Irish law. We provide legal help for people who are in this desperate situation. The real effect of the absence of the right to housing is that in these situations there is no clear right on which to rely.

When we represent these families, it is the rights around the edges we must invoke. When we get to the stage of pleadings in the courts, we have to talk about bodily integrity, privacy and family life. We cannot directly challenge the fundamental failure to provide emergency accommodation. The gap in the law in that sense is very clear.

The right to housing would mean that the courts could look at the State decision or policy and consider whether it was proportionate by reference to the right. It would mean that government and State policies and actions would have to reasonably protect the right. For example, if the State decided to cut funding for homeless accommodation, the courts could review that. We cannot review such decisions directly now. The courts have no oversight over that issue. The failure of rent supplement to meet market rate could also be challenged by reference to the right. As mentioned by Ms Clare Naughton from the Law Society of Ireland earlier today, the fact there is no legal aid, particularly in the case of evictions, could be challenged. People are evicted from their homes without any legal representation at court level. That could be challenged by reference to the right.

This is not simply about going to court, as cases are rare. The right to housing would mean that legislation and policy would have to be proofed to ensure they reasonably protect the right, in the same way as they are proofed in regard to other substantive rights. This would ensure that at that early stage a check would be in place to ensure the legislation or policy reasonably protect the right to housing. This would mean that policies on housing and homelessness could not be based on a political whim or simply based on the philosophy of the reigning government. Policy would instead be grounded in the basic obligation to respect the right. In that sense, it would be an enduring protection, a fundamental floor.

The right to housing is recognised in Europe in the constitutions of Belgium, Finland, Greece, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden and it is recognised and protected in the legislation of Austria, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the United Kingdom. Around the world, the right is recognised in 81 constitutions. The right is very evolved. It was first recognised in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. It was recognised in that declaration as an international human right. This right was then made binding in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which came into force in 1976 and it is also recognised and protected in the European Social Charter.

Another important point in regard to where this sits in regard to our position is that in 2014, the Constitutional Convention, which comprised citizens from across the country and was set up by the Government and tasked to consider changes that would be appropriate to our Constitution, considered this right. It considered economic, social and cultural rights and the right to housing, in particular. The convention voted overwhelmingly in favour of protecting the right to housing in the Constitution. Some 84% of participants voted in favour of it being protected. This was the same convention the marriage equality referendum came from. However, in this situation, the Government has not taken any further substantive action on the issue.

What we are putting forward in regard to the right to housing builds on what has gone before. We are at a time now where it is highly appropriate and necessary to look at this issue. The Mercy Law Resource Centre calls for the protection of the right to housing in the Constitution to be a key priority of the new Dáil. This call forms part of our broader policy work, including a call for legal aid for evictions and a rise in rent supplement levels to meet market rent. Both of these would be easier to achieve if we had a right to housing in the Constitution. The right to housing would help those now facing homelessness and would be a fundamental safeguard against the recurrence of the current unacceptable crisis. This right is really a recognition that a home is central to the dignity of every person.

The crisis is a call to us to ask ourselves what we consider an evolved, decent and humane society should protect for every person.

Including the right to housing in the Constitution would put in place a basic protection in recognition that a home is central to the dignity of each and every person and a foundation of every person's life. We consider that it would be a positive and enduring step and that now is the time for leadership in this area. Now is a prime opportunity to put in place that enduring protection. We thank the committee for the opportunity to discuss this issue.