Housing referendum timeline
Deputy Gannon asked when the promised referendum on a constitutional right to housing would be held. The Tánaiste said that is still the Government’s intention and that wording is awaited from the Housing Commission.
Contained in the programme for Government is a commitment to have a referendum on placing a right to housing in our Constitution. I believe it was last March, a year ago, when the Minister responsible for housing, Deputy Darragh O’Brien, announced that the wording of the referendum was due in the early part of this year. While I understand the wording is tied up in legal argument at the commission, the Government’s actions have inevitably resulted in homelessness rather than a right to housing. Will the referendum on the right to housing be delivered upon during the term of the Government – over the next 15 months, for example?