Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputies Bríd Smith, Richard Boyd Barrett and Gino Kenny for giving us the opportunity to debate this Bill. My party's position is that the Bill should go to Committee Stage for further exploration. There may well be some concerns as outlined by the Government but the fact the Government's review will happen during the summer is not a reason to prevent the Bill from going to debate on Committee Stage. Why should this not go in tandem with the Government's review? There is a question of whether there are legal and constitutional implications, and although there may be such problems, there may not be as well. That can certainly be explored at a later stage.

I have stated before that I was a member of an Oireachtas committee on the Constitution more than ten years ago. We examined a number of measures, with one being the implementation of the Kenny report relating to the value of land, specifically having only reasonable profit rather than windfall profits. At the time our legal adviser was a very eminent person, Mr. Gerard Hogan, who suggested it was not unconstitutional. We agreed the report as a result and the elements were put into a Bill I presented on behalf of the Labour Party late last year. These matters must be tested. There is a balance in the Constitution between the common good and property rights and we seem to say cautiously that property rights trump the common good; there is no reason the common good might not trump property rights in some cases. It is not a reason to prevent further examination of the proposals.

I have some questions but I am not sure if the Deputy gets the chance to reply.

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