Professor Gerard Whyte:

The suggestion it might be included in Article 45 would present some problems for the group because those particular principles are stated in the Constitution to be solely for the guidance of the Oireachtas in making laws. They cannot be relied on by the courts when the courts are scrutinising the laws the Oireachtas has made. If this clause were to go into Article 45 and if, at some point, there was a concern that some piece of legislation did not adequately vindicate the right to access adequate housing, its location in Article 45 would mean the courts could not entertain that argument. This is why we consciously decided it should be a stand-alone right. We propose it would have its own clause in the Constitution. The numeration simply reflects the fact that it comes between the existing Article 43 on private property and Article 44 on the completely unrelated issue of religion. Saying it is Article 43A does not mean it is a subordinate part of the guarantee of private property. If this were to go through they would be two separate provisions, in the same way that children's rights are protected in a separate provision in Article 42A of the Constitution.