Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

-----lowering the voting age to 16. There is one glaringly obvious omission from that list, namely, a desperately-needed commitment to amend the Constitution in respect of Article 43. Article 43, as the Taoiseach knows, acknowledges a natural right to private property above any human-made law. It goes on to state that this right must be regulated by the principles of social justice and that, on occasion, such rights need to be delimited by the exigencies of the common good. Notwithstanding these safeguards, regrettably, the superior courts have consistently taken the narrowest view of Article 43 when the exercise of property rights is deemed to be detrimental to the common good. In the main, the courts have found in favour of the upholding of private property rights or else have ruled that the State must pay prohibitive levels of compensation. The impact of Article 43 has been most profound and most detrimental in respect of the provision of housing. Successive Ministers with responsibility for housing have claimed that Article 43 significantly restricts the capacity of government to introduce key measures to deal with the housing crisis. I refer, for example, to the imposition of a meaningful vacant site levy to address the pressing issue of land-hoarding and not just the meagre little levy that is promised to kick in at some point and which is far lower than the inflation rate of vacant land; measures to tackle the large number of vacant properties; measures to prevent the eviction of families in cases in which a landlord is selling a property; and attempts to implement compulsory purchase orders in respect of unused housing landbanks. While there are major problems regarding housing and housing land, leading to a crisis of affordability and supply, it seems there is no appetite on the part of the Government to remove the constitutional obstacle that is Article 43. How on earth is the amending of Article 43 of the Constitution not on the Taoiseach's priority list for a referendum? Without amending Article 43, how can we achieve social justice and serve the common good in respect of housing? Will the Taoiseach now commit to an early referendum on Article 43 in order that the housing crisis can be tackled comprehensively and effectively and we get no more excuses from Ministers?

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