The government will hold a referendum to push through new proposals on housing developments if the Supreme Court rules as unconstitutional new laws published last week. In an interview with today's Sunday Business Post, Minister for the Environment, Noel Dempsey, said that the government would have no problem in putting forward an amendment to the constitution if necessary.
Sources in the construction industry have said that they would challenge the new legislation, which would require developers to make 20% of all new housing projects available for public housing. They claim that the proposal would offend Article 43 of the Constitution, because it undermines the right to own private property. Minister Dempsey said that he believed it was unlikely that the bill would be rejected by the Supreme courts. He said that home ownership is a desirable social policy aim, which should be pursued.
