One Senator says any potential referendum on housing in Ireland wouldn't mean everyone gets a free house.
A public consultation process is underway on the possibility of a referendum on housing.
People can submit their views on whether there should be a vote, and what form it should take, to the Housing Commission.
Sinn Féin Senator Lynn Boylan told The Hard Shoulder: "Having a constitutional right to a home doesn't mean that everyone gets a set of keys or a free house.
"But what it does do is I suppose it allows us as a society to recognise that a home is central to the dignity of each and every person, and the foundation of every person's life.
"If you don't have a home, if you don't have secure accommodation, then everything else in your life falls apart.
"So having it as a constitutional right... it makes sure that that's the focus of housing and home".
She says Ireland should follow the example of other countries on this.
"We're an outlier, really, in terms of Europe when it comes to enshrining the right to a house.
"There are a number of countries that have put it into their constitution - Finland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, Sweden - and then other countries have put it into legislation.
"So we're kind of an outlier in that we haven't enshrined it in a legal sense - that idea that a home is a fundamental right".
And Senator Boylan says the public want to see this change.
"The public opinion has already been very strong on this issue.
"In 2014 you had the Convention on the Constitution, and that found 84% were in favour of enshrining the right to housing in the Constitution.
"And then an opinion poll in 2018 found... 89% of 18 to 24-year-olds, and 82% of the general public.
"So the public want this".
