Professor Gerard Whyte:

On that point, I think the amendment would enhance the ability of the Oireachtas to legislate in these areas. It goes back to the point we made earlier that where there are two competing constitutional rights, and where the Oireachtas attempts to balance those rights, the court will only upset that legislative balance if the balance is completely contrary to reason, rationality or fairness. Currently, with regard to property rights, there is a guarantee of private property qualified by the concept of the common good. That is a different situation, and we do not really have enough detail as to what the common good requires in this specific situation to predict confidently that legislation restricting private property rights would pass. However, in a scenario in which we are told legislation will be sustained by the courts unless it is unreasonable and contrary to common sense, that gives a lot of room for the Oireachtas to legislate on security of tenure, rent freezes and the like. Therefore, from a technical point of view, I think that inserting in the Constitution this specific right to access to adequate housing would address the issue of the perceived limits on the ability of the Oireachtas to legislate in this area.