An Oireachtas committee has been told that the Conference of Religious of Ireland (CORI) would have no problem with the deletion of provisions in the Constitution dealing with property owned by religious institutions.
The chairman of the Joint Committee on the Constitution, Mr Denis O'Donovan TD, put it to Father Seán Healy of CORI's Justice Commission at a hearing yesterday that auctioneers and valuers had argued that the "special treatment" on property offered to religious institutions in the Constitution was causing problems, particularly in the Dublin area.
Father Healy said he had "no problem with religious being treated the same as any other group".
He went on to point out that CORI owned no property and that religious congregations who did were often tied to using it for particular purposes.
Article 44.2.5 of the Constitution states that "every religious denomination shall have the right to manage its own affairs, own, acquire and administer property, movable and immovable, and maintain institutions for religious or charitable purposes". Article 44.2.6 continues, "the property of any religious denomination or any educational institution shall not be diverted save for necessary works of public utility and on payment of compensation."
In his question to Father Healy, Mr O'Donovan was referring to an oral presentation made by the Irish Auctioneers and Valuers Institute (IAVI) earlier. Yesterday was the first day of what is expected to be two weeks of oral presentations by various groups on property rights in the Constitution.
The Law Society, the IAVI, the Chartered Surveyors' Society, CORI's Justice Commission, the Dublin 15 Community Council, Keep Ireland Open, Prof Gerry Whyte of the Law Department at Trinity College, and the Association of Combined Residents Associations, made presentations yesterday.
Mr Barry Andrews TD asked Father Healy about the availability of church lands in the context of the social, cultural, and economic rights being proposed by CORI for inclusion in the Constitution.
Father Healy responded that it was "already the case" that much church land was being supplied "at low cost for housing" in Dublin, while elsewhere in the State it was being supplied "to a whole range of organisations". He also pointed out that four or five church agencies were directly involved with housing.
Father Healy, who was accompanied at the hearing by Sister Brigid Reynolds, said CORI was proposing the inclusion in the Constitution of seven "rights to" fundamental social, cultural, and economic provisions. These included rights to appropriate accommodation, relevant education, and reasonable income. He argued, from a long tradition of Catholic social thought, that personal property rights were not absolute but were "rooted in social responsibility".
He also argued that only land owned by local authorities should be zoned, thus greatly reducing the "multiples of 10" in profiteering. He would support greater use of compulsory purchase orders and the payment to landowners of a price which reflected the agricultural value of their land plus 25 per cent, as recommended in the Kenny Report 30 years ago.
Mr Pádraic McCormack TD said this latter proposal was "fraught with danger" as it gave responsibility for rezoning to the owner of the land. Father Healy pointed out that the owner in question would be the elected local authority. Mr McCormack responded, however, that local authority managers were not elected.
