Sinn Fein MLA and Housing Spokesperson Fra McCann has called for an urgent meeting with the Social Development Minister Alex Atwood to deal with NI Housing Executive repairs.

Mr McCann stated: "Over the past ten days we have seen a complete inability of the Housing Executive to deal with repairs to homes.

"The system that is being used cannot, nor will not, meet the demand being placed upon it and I am calling on the Minister to carry out a review similar to the one being planned for NI Water.

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"Many of contractors being employed by the Department neither have the capacity nor the expertise to carry out the repairs needed yet the Minister has not acted to improve the rate of repairs.

"It is important that we have competent and able contractors that can be depended upon in time of crisis and we need a complete review on how these contracts are awarded. One of the problems is that many of these contracts are then sub contracted out to small companies who cannot provide the proper service.

"I have called for an urgent meeting with the Minister Alex Atwood to discuss this and other issues but in the meantime he needs to show leadership and move immediately to ensure that this crisis is dealt with," he said.

(GK)