In this issue of Working Notes we examine the report on Private Property of the All- Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution Property, published in April 2004. The Report followed a request from the Taoiseach in February 2000 to “consider the present constitutional provisions in respect of property rights and specifically the necessity for up-dating... Read more »

Introduction One of the most ideologically and economically sensitive elements in any state is the legal and constitutional regime governing the ownership of private property. The regulation, taxation and expropriation of property raise fundamental questions of justice, equity, the right to shelter, the balance between individual rights and the common good. All these matters are... Read more »

Introduction The recommendations of the All-Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution on the right to private property and its relationship with the requirements of the greater social good, take on particular significance when seen in the context of Ireland's recent unprecedented demand for housing and infrastructural development, arising from nearly a decade of high levels... Read more »

In April 2004, the All-Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution published its Ninth Progress Report.(1) The Report discusses whether the provisions of the Irish Constitution concerning property rights obstruct social justice and the common good in the area of land and housing, with regard to purchase, planning and infrastructural development. The opening lines of chapter... Read more »