The Deputy knows that the great experts who have examined this matter have said that many of the problems will not be resolved, for various reasons, regardless of whether it is addressed legislatively or by means of a constitutional amendment. I think it would have a significant advantage, but not many people on either side of the argument accept that. I still think it is easier to do it legislatively. A constitutional referendum on property rights would be quite divisive as it would involve all kinds of extraneous arguments. When one speaks about the matter, as I have done in various fora, people get very stroppy about changing the section of the Constitution dealing with property rights. We are examining whether it can be done legislatively. The NESC report, which tried to help the NESC parties to reach a consensus, will be published soon. I hope the Department, which has done a large amount of preparation on the basis of the reports prepared by Goodbody and the all-party committee, will bring forward its proposals shortly. That is what the Minister said the other day.
Deputy Rabbitte's first question was about the Government's record in acting on the recommendations of the All-Party Committee on the Constitution, which has been very good. It is not true that the Government has not dealt with the committee's proposals, which did not all relate to constitutional change. Many of the recommendations were for procedural or legislative change, or updating the relevant statutes. We have made many such changes and we will deal with the recommendations which have not been acted on. The all-party committee recommended a constitutional amendment to abolish the death penalty, for example. While we did not pursue a referendum on the issue of judicial oversight, we held referenda on abortion and the recognition of local government. We have dealt with matters which did not require a constitutional amendment, such as the oversight role of this House in dealing with scrutiny of EU business and other matters.
There are practical limits to the number of referenda which can be put to the people at any time. The Government will continue to give priority to the recommendations of the all-party committee. Matters in respect of which action has yet to be taken include gender issues. The committee published a report about gender and the Constitution's reference to women in the home. The Government agrees with the committee's recommendations on such issues, but we need to find a way of implementing the necessary changes. The committee's report included some articles on the Presidency which can be dealt with. Its proposals relating to the courts are being dealt with in legislation, such as the Courts and Court Officers Bill. It has made recommendations on the oversight of judicial conduct, impeachment and issues relating to the Special Criminal Court.
We have dealt with a number of the issues of Government, but some of them are outstanding. I do not think the issues relating to changing the articles about the state of emergency in the State are urgent, but the necessary changes can be made at some stage. Other recommendations relate to international relations, the Ombudsman and national parliaments. Constitutional issues relating to Northern Ireland include the ability of people to come before the House. The proposals I have made in that regard should be implemented. If we can reach a comprehensive agreement, it is important that we can deal with that when we are dealing with Northern Ireland issues. There is a separate report on that. The Government has made a decision and stated its position in that regard, but it needs all-party support to proceed. The all-party committee is examining issues relating to children and the family, many of which will not require constitutional change. All of the committee's work has been useful. The Government has not ignored the various issues raised by the committee.