Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

It is nine months since the Dáil endorsed our Thirty-ninth Amendment of the Constitution (Right to Housing) Bill 2020 to which Deputy Boyd Barrett referred. The Dáil agreed to call a referendum to insert the right to a home into the Irish Constitution.

Nine months on, we have no date for this referendum. No progress has been made on that but we heard reports today that the Cabinet is discussing it. We need to know what wording is going to be proposed by the Government. There has been much vagueness about that. It is in the programme for Government in a very vague way. What is the timing?

At the root of the housing crisis is that housing in Ireland and most countries around the world is seen as an investment, a commodity and a way to make money rather than a fundamental human right. Basically, the rights of cuckoo funds, real estate investment trusts, REITs, and developers to profit takes precedence over the rights of tenants and people seeking to have access to their own homes.

When will the Taoiseach set the date? What will the wording be? Will he guarantee that this will happen while he is still Taoiseach rather than being yet another Taoiseach who fails to deliver on the right to housing for people?

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