Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank An Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to speak on affordable housing. I thank Deputy Cian O'Callaghan and the Social Democrats for bringing this motion forward. I strongly support this motion and I urge the Minister to consider the calls in the motion, as well as introducing rent controls. Article 43 of the Constitution guarantees the protection of property right. However, this is not an absolute right. The protection is qualified by the words "as best it may" and Article 43 provides that the right "ought... to be regulated by the principles of social justice" and be balanced with "the common good." The Constitution also states that an attack on these rights must be "unjust". This clearly shows that, with political will, the Constitution is built to allow the Government to balance the property rights of one group with the needs of another when it is for the common good.

What exactly is it about housing thousands of people and providing security to our citizens and children that would not be considered to be in the common good? There would be nothing unjust in implementing rent controls in the middle of a severe housing crisis. Recent history has shown that the courts are reluctant to interfere with the Oireachtas. Austerity legislation was left in place by the Judiciary, for example. In the midst of the crash the State impacted on property rights via emergency pay cuts and pension levies. None were considered to be unconstitutional. Time and again this Government has declared itself to be acting on legal advice when it repeatedly places the rights and profits of landlords ahead of the needs of the general population. It is using a narrow reading of "property rights" to justify its cowardice in the housing crisis.

The Blake case, which seems to be the sticking point, was based on facts that are different from what we face today. At that stage, the economic climate that the legislation addressed through rental controls had passed and so it was deemed an unjust attack on property rights. Unfortunately, today our housing crisis and cost-of-living crisis are the only two things thriving in this country. A nuanced reading of both the case law and the Constitution would show there is a definite scope to allow for balancing the rights of property and addressing the housing crisis. Refusal to approach the law with a desire to find a solution is nothing short of cowardice. Either that or there is a cynical desire to keep the profits of landlords as a priority over houses and roofs over heads, and that, it seems to me, is the reason.

The outworking of the Government's lack of provision is the increasing homelessness across the country. Homelessness in the north west is increasing significantly as well, as the Minister of State knows. In 2018, in the north west, which includes Donegal, Sligo and Leitrim, there were 371 people homeless. That had grown to 539 people by 2022, which represents 239 households. That, proportionately, is as high as it is anywhere else in the country, and that is a sad reflection of what this Government has achieved.

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