Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 8 September 2022
587. Deputy Francis Noel Duffy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the reason the public consultation on the referendum on housing is published on the European Commission website instead of the official gov.ie website; if his Department has considered the implications that this could have on the results of the consultation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43097/22]
View answerIt should be noted that this public consultation is being managed by the Housing Commission, who are independent from my Department. The Programme for Government and Housing for All: A New Housing Plan for Ireland committed to establishing a Housing Commission.
The Commission has been tasked to examine issues such as tenure, standards, sustainability and quality-of-life issues in the provision of housing, all of which have long-term impacts on communities. The Commission has also been mandated to bring forward proposals on the wording for a referendum on housing.
The Housing Commission launched a public consultation seeking views on a Referendum on Housing in Ireland. The consultation asks submissions to consider whether there should be a constitutional amendment and if so what form it should take.
The Commission has heard from a range of domestic and international housing experts at its conference on a Referendum on Housing in Ireland on 10 and 11 May. This public consultation formed a further important aspect of the consultation stage the Housing Commission’s work.
Members of the public, public representatives, organisations involved in housing, people working in related policy and legal areas were invited to send in submissions.
The public consultation remained open until Friday 2 September.
The submissions will provide invaluable input from the public and stakeholders to assist the Commission in its task of providing independent advice to the government.
EUSurvey is the on line mechanism that was utilised by the Commission on Housing for this consultation process. EUSurvey is an online survey management system for creating and publishing forms available to the public. The surveys that are created with the tool are not advertised by the European Commission and there is no webpage where all the created surveys are available. It is the survey owners and organizer`s role to advertise their surveys as required. The consultation process was advertised across both print and social media, as well as on the Commission on Housing and Department of Housing’s website.
There were 3 ways that respondents could provide their views:
- through responding to the consultation, ‘Public Consultation on a Referendum on Housing’ at this link: ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/ReferendumonHousing22
- by emailing a submission to: ConsultHC@housingcommission.gov.ie
- by posting a submission to: Housing Commission, Custom House, Dublin, D01 W6X0
These submissions will inform the Housing Commission’s consideration as it deliberates on the critical factors and makes its recommendation as to appropriate wording to be put to the people in a referendum.
