Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I would like to share time, with the House's permission, with Deputies Jim O'Callaghan and Pat Casey.

I thank Deputy Thomas Pringle and commend him on the good intent behind this Bill. We are committed as a party to the realisation of economic, social and cultural rights for all citizens in this State. We should all strive towards that goal. We recognise that many people are living at the margins of society due to poverty and social exclusion and that there has been no economic recovery for many. The latest survey on income and living conditions shows that consistent poverty is 8.7%, while the number of those at risk of poverty is just short of 17%. Moreover, when we look at the segments within that, lone parent households have a consistent poverty rate of over 26%, while the deprivation rate for this household type remains far too high at almost 58%. We have much work to do. That is one of the things that we all need to be acutely aware of, that many people have not shared and have not seen any type of recovery. That is why the debate here today and the publication of the Bill is certainly useful.

However, at this juncture we do not regard this Bill, which would explicitly enshrine rights in the Constitution, as the appropriate mechanism right now to address these issues and we have several concerns which I will go into in a moment about the consequences, unintended or otherwise, of the legislation. Bunreacht na hÉireann, our 1937 Constitution, makes only limited reference to economic, social and cultural rights which are by and large referred to in Articles 40 to 44 of the Constitution. However, the courts have recognised that personal rights are not limited to those expressly set out or enumerated in the constitutional text. Changing this to explicitly enshrining economic, social and cultural rights in the Constitution is in itself not the problem per sebut it is how we define such rights and also the parameters of such rights, while also having in place effective and efficient methods for the enforcement of those rights that this Bill will enshrine in the Constitution.

A key issue that was raised during the discussions on this matter at the Constitutional Convention was whether enshrining socio-economic rights would mean handing decisions on the allocation of Exchequer resources, limited as they are right now, away from the Oireachtas and to the Judiciary. This is a key question and requires further investigation. Another element would be the implications such a move would have for our court system. Would it result in a significant increase in cases against the State? What are the unintended consequences of enshrining such rights in the Constitution, including the financial burden that it could place on the State? Would it take responsibility away from Government in allocation of resources, and would it take responsibility and power from the Oireachtas, and the Dáil in particular, that the people vote for freely at election time?

This Bill, if enacted, while desirable in principle, and I genuinely mean that, does not have precise definitions or clear proposals. Before such a change should be introduced, we need a detailed and considered analysis of what such a move would mean for the individual, society and the State as a whole. While economic and social rights should be viewed as more than an aspiration or more than a lofty ideal, the practicalities and implications of enshrining such rights in our Constitution cannot be discounted or dismissed, particularly when the economic recovery is as fragile and fragmented as we have it right now.

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