Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I join the Minister in commending the Housing Commission on its work on this. All the members of the joint committee are keen to see the report. While the Oireachtas joint committee will have an important role to play, I hope the Minister's intention is not to refer the report of the Housing Commission to our committee to get our advice back to the Government. It would be much better if the Government were to take a decision on this and produce legislation, and then our committee could have a role in the scrutiny of the draft referendum legislation. Not unlike the referral to our committee of the recommendations of the citizens' assembly on a directly elected mayor, some of us have a concern that such a procedure is more of a delaying tactic. The committee will have a role in scrutinising the legislation.

At this point in time, is the Minister in a position to give us any indication as to whether he hopes to proceed to propose the referendum or simply to refer the report from the Housing Commission to the committee, given the timelines of the local and European elections and the general election, which are fast approaching? Many of us are very keen to see the possibility of a referendum on this important issue next year.

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