Sir, – Sir, – The current efforts by the Government to utilise lands owned by religious denominations to help solve the housing crisis may be hampered by Article 44.2.6 of the Constitution which states that such property “shall not be diverted save for works of public utility and on payment of compensation”.
The Article, for example, proved an obstacle for Mr Justice John Kenny in his 1973 report (the Kenny Report) when he got around the issue by proposing that legislation to designate areas for building would not apply to the property of any religious denomination, or of any educational institution.
The Article has been considered by a number of reports over the years. With the imminent publication of the Government’s Housing for All document, it may now be an appropriate time to consider an amendment to remove this largely redundant Article from the Constitution.
– Yours, etc,
TIM RYAN,
PhD researcher,
Dept of Social Work & Social Policy,
Trinity College Dublin.