Sinn Féin Housing spokesperson Dessie Ellis has called for immediate action by the state to deal with the rising numbers of homeless people across Ireland.

He made his comments in light of figures from Dublin City Council Central Placement Service which stated that over the four local authorities in Dublin eight new people are presenting as homeless every day.

Deputy Ellis said: "These figures are utterly damning of government policy under Fine Gael and Labour but also for the last ten years and more. Housing has been treated as a commodity and not a right for too long and now we are see the cost of that ideological position everyday.

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"People are struggling to pay mortgages and rents, only handfuls of homes are being built by local authorities as austerity hits ordinary people every day and housing need rises to an all-time high.

"That eight new people present as homeless every single day in Dublin is completely unacceptable but there are many thousands more living in crowded, damp and dangerous conditions across the city and the state and the government are not doing nearly enough to challenge this situation.

"The government must get serious on ending homelessness. They must look to NAMA, look to the thousands of empty homes and look to local authorities to provide real sustainable and affordable social housing before this crisis, which has raged for decades, gets any worse."

(CD/MH)