Dr. Ronan Lyons:

Listening to Dr. Casey and as Mr. O'Flynn just said, we all have the same motivation. In some ways, when Dr. Casey described the proposed amendment, he could have been describing our proposed amendment. I, and the legal experts who advised our subcommittee for the minority report, could not see in the majority report or whatever we term it the impetus to get Government to take action at a systemic level. I will read out our proposed constitutional amendment. It has three short paragraphs, each one sentence, concerning Article 45(5):

i. The State shall direct its social policy towards ensuring adequate affordable housing for every citizen, as part of a national housing policy that meets the needs of its citizens.

ii. In furtherance of such obligation, the State shall take legislative and other measures, within its available resources, to achieve the progressive implementation of such a housing policy.

iii. Notwithstanding the provisions of the preamble to this Article, compliance with the requirements of paragraphs 5(i) and 5(ii) shall be cognisable by the Courts established by Article 34 of this Constitution.

Going back to the family the Deputy had in mind, what will the Government actually do and how will it be compelled to take action? We felt our proposed amendment was much more likely to get that reaction and the steps needed than the majority's proposal. I hope that helps to clarify. I just realised the oversight of not including our amendment in my opening statement.