Constitutional Amendments

Wednesday, 22 November 2023

Ceisteanna (1, 2, 3, 4)

Cian O'Callaghan

Ceist:

1. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his plan for constitutional amendments. [49954/23]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Ruairí Ó Murchú

Ceist:

2. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his plans for constitutional amendments. [50721/23]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Richard Boyd Barrett

Ceist:

3. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his plan for constitutional amendments. [51154/23]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Paul Murphy

Ceist:

4. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his plan for constitutional amendments. [51157/23]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí ó Béal (11 píosaí cainte)

The Taoiseach

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 4, inclusive, together.

The Government intends to hold a referendum next year on gender equality, as recommended by the Citizens' Assembly on Gender Equality and the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Gender Equality. The decision to hold one or more referendums on this issue is in line with commitments in the programme for Government to respond to the recommendations of the citizens' assembly.

An interdepartmental group, led by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, was established in March this year. The work of the group is close to concluding and policy proposals, to include heads of Bills, will be brought forward for the Government to make a decision on the matter as soon as possible. There are various other proposals for further constitutional reforms under consideration. However, no final decisions have been made as of yet on the timing for the holding of other referendums.

Some of the proposed reforms, such as on housing and extending the franchise at presidential elections to Irish citizens living outside the State, arise from the programme for Government, while others, such as on the EU Agreement on a Unified Patent Court, arise from existing legal requirements. The establishment of the Electoral Commission will help to streamline the conduct of referendums and provide independent oversight thereof.

Deputy Cian O'Callaghan

The programme for Government commits to holding a referendum on housing. The Taoiseach has clarified to me in this Chamber that it will be on the right to housing. However, there does not seem to be any urgency from the Government in progressing this referendum. Increasingly, it is looking like it is not going to happen in the lifetime of the Government. With just over 12 months left in its term of office, there is still no date for this referendum to take place.

It increasingly looks like the commitment made in the programme for Government was made without any intention of holding a referendum on the right to housing. When will a date be set for the right to housing referendum? Will the Taoiseach commit to that referendum taking place in the lifetime of this Government, as already committed to in the programme for Government?

Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú

I agree with Deputy O'Callaghan. It is a promise there in the programme for Government. Many of us see it as an absolute necessity that the right to housing be written into the Constitution. We all realise the issues around the housing crisis and that we need to introduce mitigations now, whether we are talking about a ban on increases on rentals or ensuring that we absolutely deliver a greater amount of affordable, council and cost-rental housing. It is an absolute necessity. At this stage we need to get a definitive response on a date for this right to housing referendum.

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett

I also want to ask when the referendum will take place on the right to housing that the Government promised, and when it would be inserted into the Constitution. Will it renege on the promise to have that referendum during the course of this Government or will it keep that promise? I have no doubt that the Taoiseach may say - because he has certainly said it in the past - that inserting a right to housing in the Constitution does not solve the housing crisis. Before he says it, of course we all understand that this is the case. To solve the housing crisis we need to dramatically upscale the delivery of public and affordable housing, we need to control rents and make them affordable, we need to protect tenants against unfair evictions, we need to take far more robust and radical measures to deal with the scandal of vacant and derelict property, and we need to deal with the problem of vulture funds exploiting the housing crisis for their own ends, all of which the Government has largely failed to deliver. A right to housing would put significant additional pressure on a government to ensure it was a priority for that government to use its resource to ensure that everybody has a basic right to that which people need to simply function in society, namely, a secure and affordable roof over their head, and that this would be an imperative for any and all governments to ensure this was the case. Will we have this referendum and when? Apart from anything else, it would be a welcome opportunity to force a national debate on this issue and to hear the views the people in this country who are impacted by this crisis.

Deputy Paul Murphy

Are we going to have a referendum about neutrality in this State? The Government claims now not to want to undermine neutrality but, de facto, it tunnels underneath this and does things bit by bit that undermine what is left of neutrality, including the use of Shannon Airport and participation in the Ukraine defense contact group and NATO alliance that is sending soldiers to train Ukrainians in Germany and in Poland. The Government has said, however, that it does not want to undermine neutrality. In that case, will the Taoiseach agree that we should have a referendum about neutrality and whether to enshrine neutrality in the Constitution?

Sometimes some people here speak as if being neutral means one cannot say anything about what is happening in the world and means that one cannot speak out against oppression or condemn, for example, what Israel is doing and cannot describe it as genocide. One could not, for example, take the action of sanctions against Israel. That is not what neutrality means. It is certainly not proposed in our Bill on holding a referendum on neutrality. It would mean that Ireland does not join any military alliance and does not provide any military, economic or political assistance to belligerents. This is what it means. In that context I want to ask a very particular question of the Taoiseach. In the Government's countermotion to our motion on Palestine today, the Government refers to condemning the killing of civilians and children. It is implicitly about Israel because the previous point is about condemning Hamas, but the Government is opposed to a very simple amendment to add the words "by Israel". The Government is opposed to that. I wish to ask clearly whether it is the Government's position that it will not condemn Israel. Is that the position? Does the Government refuse to condemn Israel? Is that why it is opposing the amendment?

The Taoiseach

On the questions asked about the referendum on housing, in line with commitments in the programme for Government and in Housing for All - a New Housing Plan for Ireland, the Housing Commission was established by the Government in December 2021 to independently examine and review the housing system in Ireland. The Housing Commission submitted its report, proposed wording for an amendment to the Constitution, and made recommendations to the Minister in August. The report and the next steps are currently being considered and the Minister will bring these to Government in due course. A minority report from two members of the commission has also recently been received only in the past few days. Neither have gone to Government yet and I believe that the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage will also want to consider the two reports.

I will restate in the House that I support a housing amendment to the Constitution provided it is a good one. I strongly believe that any housing amendment has to make it easier to build homes. Otherwise it will be meaningless. We see too many planning permissions for new homes being struck down in the courts. A strong housing amendment could tip the balance in favour of the courts approving these planning permissions rather than striking them down on various different grounds. That is the litmus test for me when it comes to any housing amendment. If it just creates a new right to sue for compensation, that is problematic. I do not want to see the housing budget being diverted into compensation payments or see housing officials spending their time managing litigation when they should be managing projects that build houses.

On the neutrality question, there are no plans for a referendum on neutrality. Ultimately we believe that matters of foreign policy and defence policy should be made by the Government and the Oireachtas and not by the courts. There is no clear definition of neutrality. It means different things to different people. To me, it means not joining a military alliance. I know that to Deputy Murphy it means something else and to other people it means something else again. That is one reason it would not be a good idea to put something like that in the Constitution.

On the latest motion on Israel, it is very clear in the Government's countermotion that we refer to Hamas in one paragraph and refer to Israel very clearly in another paragraph. In fact we use the term "deplores" in relation to Israel's actions in Gaza.