In a detailed submission to the Housing Commission, FLAC recommended a referendum to propose the inclusion of a right to adequate housing in the Constitution. FLAC’s submission includes a proposed wording which seeks to ensure that the right to adequate housing is enforceable, equality-proofed and creates a minimum standard of adequate housing.
FLAC believes that a constitutional right to housing should require the introduction of supporting legislation, and the amendment of existing legislation, to ensure that the right to adequate housing is effective from the outset and in practice. While the absence of a constitutional right to adequate housing does not pose a barrier to the introduction of rights-based housing legislation, the introduction of such a right should mandate the reform of the housing code to ensure that it is consistent with the right and also prevent future regressive polices or legislation that would undermine the right.
The vindication of the right to access to justice is necessary to ensure that the right to housing is meaningful and enforceable in practice.
FLAC’s Case Work Experience
Issues around housing and homelessness have dominated FLAC’s casework in recent years. The majority of those cases arise from FLAC’s Traveller Legal Service and Roma Legal Clinic. FLAC regularly appears before quasi-judicial tribunals and the courts, including the Workplace Relations Commission , Residential Tenancies Board and High Court in cases related to housing.
The work of FLAC’s Traveller Legal Service has been dominated by housing issues including in relation to evictions, denial of access to emergency accommodation and Traveller-specific accommodation and the standards in such accommodation. Similarly, the work of FLAC’s Roma Legal Clinic has illustrated the specific and persistent barriers which the Roma community in Ireland face in seeking to access public services such as social housing.
Other Housing Policy Submissions
FLAC’s policy submissions regularly highlight issues in relation to housing and homelessness. These submissions include:
- A Submission to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Key Issues Affecting the Traveller Community on the subject of Access to Housing and Accommodation, which highlighted the need for urgent law reform in relation to the delivery of Traveller Accommodation, the standards of that accommodation, evictions, and access to emergency accommodation.
- A Submission on the development of a Youth Homelessness Strategy which stressed that equality and human rights should be at the heart of any plan to eradicate homelessness and end the housing crisis. The submission noted that legislation is required to ensure that the housing rights of all individuals and groups are comprehensive, clear and enforceable.
- A Submission to the Independent Anti-Racism Committee’s Public Consultation: Towards a National Action Plan against Racism in Ireland, which highlighted the specific housing issues encountered by the Traveller and Roma communities, including barriers to accessing social housing supports.
- The four paper From Pillar to Post series which examines issues arising in new and existing consumer debt cases in light of the Covid 19 pandemic.
- A Submission to the Review of the Equality Acts which emphasises that State bodies including Government Departments and Local Authorities should be brought clearly within the scope of the equality legislation’s prohibition of discrimination, as should the functions of those bodies in relation to housing.
