Sinn Féin is calling on the government to prioritise the building of new homes by local authorities.

Housing spokesperson Deputy Ellis TD said we need to see plans for capital investment in housing which will deliver a large number of homes as quickly as possible and for them to be council owned homes.

Deputy Ellis said: "This would create jobs, save money on rent supplement and emergency accommodation while generating council revenue through rents. It is not just socially but economically beneficial to house people through local authorities.

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"The government has hinted at a greater role for voluntary bodies but this is just another form of the old policy of passing off responsibility to others for housing. Voluntary bodies provide a great service and have an important part to place in the system but they cannot solve the problem and they should not be expected to.

"The housing crisis was created when government policy moved away from building council homes and it will not begin to be remedied until that policy is reversed."

(CD/JP)