Denise Mitchell (Dublin Bay North, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill and I commend Deputy Pringle on bringing it before us. Sinn Féin is a strong advocate for economic, social and cultural rights, all of which are covered by different aspects of this Bill.

Enshrining economic, social and cultural rights within our Constitution is a progressive step, and one which, I believe, all parties should support. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights was ratified by Ireland in 1989. Thirty two years on, its principles have not been acted upon. This Bill is an opportunity to make up for lost time. This Bill covers the right to have one's economic, social and cultural rights recognised in the Irish courts.

The right to housing needs to be enshrined in our Constitution. Everybody has the right to a home and to have a roof over his or her head. Let us take, for example, the homelessness crisis across this State - families living in emergency accommodation, children growing up in homeless hubs, rough sleepers, young families rearing their children in overcrowded conditions and a locked-out generation of young people who will never own their own home. It is an absolute disgrace. It is a failure of this State to protect our most vulnerable. A referendum on its own will not cut it. We need houses, and lots of them, but the current Government seems more concerned about lining the pockets of developers than providing a roof over our most vulnerable.

This Bill will also strengthen workers' rights in that it provides for workers to join a trade union of their choice. This Bill will deliver for workers. We see workers treated unfairly every day of the week. Their wages and working conditions are constantly under attack. There is no such thing for working people in this country as a fair day's pay for a fair day's work. A two-tier pay scale exists in our schools and the Government permits this. We only have to look at how the Government has treated our student nurses in recent weeks to get an idea of its views on workers' rights more generally. The Minister of State should pay our student nurses. The failure to introduce the living wage is another example of where the Minister of State and the Government have let down workers.

Covid has changed everything. It exposed all the wrongs inflicted on working class people in housing, health, education and work, which are basic human rights. We have a chance to restart everything once we get out the far side of this virus and this Bill will improve people's lives.

If the Minister of State amends the motion today, that will be disgraceful. I ask him to support the Bill and to support the ordinary people of Ireland. I commend the Regional Independent Group again on bringing this before the Dáil and I fully support its passage.

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