Mr. Wayne Stanley:

I thank the committee for the invitation. My colleague, Ms Kelly-Desmond, and I will give the opening statement together. Home for Good would like to extend our thanks to the Committee for the invitation to present on the right to housing and particularly the ongoing engagement of committee members and the committee as a whole on this important topic. As the committee is aware Home for Good is a coalition of organisations and individuals who believe that constitutional change is needed as an essential underpinning for any programme to tackle our housing and homelessness crisis. Many of our members are advocates from front-line organisations and through that work, we understand how important a right to housing is for those experiencing housing exclusion, homelessness and for those living in inadequate, unsafe, insecure or overcrowded accommodation. More generally, as citizens we understand the importance of a home as the fundamental social and economic infrastructure of our society. The meaning of home became abundantly clear during the Covid-19 pandemic, which starkly demonstrated the importance of an adequate home to keep ourselves and our families safe. We advocated for a redoubling of efforts to assist those in housing distress during and subsequent to the pandemic. We are more certain than ever of the need to amend our Constitution to ensure that the necessary policies can be implemented to end the housing and homelessness crisis in Ireland. The last number of months have seen an unwinding of Covid-19 restrictions in the area of housing, as many areas of life return to some version of normal. What we have seen in housing, however, is a return to crisis.

Homelessness in the past six months has increased by 16% and we now have more than 10,000 people living in emergency homeless accommodation, including more than 3,000 children. The cost of housing and rent has continued to grow and supply has constricted further. In the first three months of this year, 1,132 notices to quit have been issued, the highest number since data collection started in 2019. There were 3,818 eviction notices issued since the Covid-19 ban on evictions was lifted last April.

The recent heightening of the housing crisis has had a number of driving factors but we firmly believe the seeds of this crisis were sown in the belief that "a home" is not understood as central to our social infrastructure and it is not a right for individuals and families in Ireland. More generally, the lack of balance in our Constitution has facilitated the development of a housing system based on financial commodification to a level that now undermines the capacity of too many people to participate fully in society.

Home for Good has welcomed the recent support for and the developments towards a referendum on the right to housing, particularly the launch of the Housing Commission, which has included a sub-committee tasked to bring forward wording for a referendum on housing. The Housing Commission is due to present its deliberations on a referendum on housing in the coming months. Housing in Ireland is truly in a state of crisis at all levels and a referendum on the right to housing cannot be delayed. We hope that the recommendations from this upcoming report lead to timely progress towards a positive referendum on the right to housing.

Home for Good wants to ensure that two key actions are taken as next steps to progress the right to housing. There should be a referendum called as soon as is practical after the commission publishes its report. To ensure this, we hope the commission in its report will includes a positive proposal for wording for a referendum on the right to housing. From our perspective, this would ideally build upon the work that Home for Good has done in this area, but we of course remain open to engagement with the commission.

The sense of urgency for a referendum on a right to Housing is driven by the ongoing housing crisis and we cannot afford postponement. In 2018, during his time as Taoiseach, the current Tánaiste, Deputy Leo Varadkar, declared a national homelessness and housing crisis in Ireland. More than four years later, we have over 10,000 people living in emergency homeless accommodation, record high rental costs and an increasingly unstable housing market.

The next issue is why we need a referendum on the right to housing, and Ms Kelly-Desmond will speak to that.