The all-party committee on the Constitution is seeking submissions on the Articles in the Constitution protecting the right to private property. This follows a request to it from the Taoiseach to carry out a review of these Articles. It is seeking submissions from the public before the end of May.
Article 40.3.2 of the Constitution pledges that the State shall guarantee every citizen's rights to private property. Article 43 acknowledges that these rights ought to be regulated by the principles of social justice.
"The committee is examining these articles to ascertain the extent to which they are serving the good of both individuals and community," the committee said in a statement.
The issues it would like the public to address are: zoning; the price of development land; compulsory purchase; the right to shelter; access to the countryside; and the price of houses.
The newly-appointed chairman of this committee, Mr Denis O'Donovan, said that our efforts to build the infrastructure necessary to meet our critical economic and social needs were taking far too long and costing far too much. He hoped that the review would go some way towards meeting this.
This is part of an ongoing review of the Constitution by the committee. It follows a report, published in 1996 from the Review Group on the Constitution, which was mainly composed of legal experts.