Fianna Fáil has been accused of having no policies to tackle the housing crisis.

Sinn Féin Housing spokesperson Dessie Ellis TD accused the party of being "incapable of grasping the reality of the housing crisis".

Mr Ellis said: "They are incapable of talking about real solutions because like the Government, they are utterly opposed to them. Like the Government they are want to decrease further state provision of housing and move responsibility onto the private sector and voluntary bodies. There is very little difference between what Fianna Fáil says now on housing and what they said while they were dismantling the social housing system during their 14 years in Government.

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"We need major investment in social housing construction by Local Authorities and we need rent controls immediately to stop the flow of people into homelessness due to unaffordable rents caused by the shortage of social housing, oversaw by Fianna Fáil and the current Government.

"The only policy difference Fianna Fáil articulates is one which simply does not stack up. Increasing Rent Supplement levels or removing the cap would simply drive up rents further while providing no security for the vast majority of people at threat due to high rents or unable to find housing within the range of the cap. Rent Supplement is an expensive scheme and even a small increase would be insignificant to individual recipients and would cost a lot of money. A ten percent increase in rates across the board would cost approximately 32 million euro before you consider the likely rent hikes."

(CD/MH)