Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

There are many pressing issues in this increasingly failed State. However, there is no greater emergency than the housing and homelessness emergency. The report of the Constitutional Convention was absolutely clear in its instruction to the Government on the issue of housing. Fully 84% voted at the Convention for the right to housing to be inserted into the Constitution. The Government has done nothing about that.

The convention also overwhelmingly voted for all the rights enshrined in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to be inserted into the Constitution. Yet, this week, the Government is going to vote down Deputy Pringle's Bill on the matter. Later today, I will bring a Bill to insert the right to housing into the Constitution by referendum. However, the Government refuses to support the insertion of these rights into the Constitution and it intends to vote down the Bill. This is despite the fact that the convention set up by the Taoiseach has called for it.

Why on earth were the non-housing related economic, social cultural rights referred to the Joint Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government? It was perfectly right to refer the housing question to the committee but it gave us the disaster that is the Rebuilding Ireland - Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness document. Why were all the other rights demanded in the report referred to the housing committee? What is the Taoiseach going to do about this?

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