Almost four homes in Ireland are being repossessed or surrendered every day, according to figures from the Central Bank.

Sinn Féin has hit out at the Government for failing to take action and said the figures show "for many it is far too late".

Finance Spokesperson Pearse Doherty TD said there are a further 37,933 accounts in arrears of over 720 days and the figure keeps growing.

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He said: "The figures published today also show that when the banks do agree a restructuring, they are relying more and more an arrears capitalisation and split mortgages.

"These have been criticised as being among the least sustainable and equitable ways of dealing with mortgage arrears. In both cases, there is a large element of kicking the can down the road.

"Of course, the headline reduction in arrears cases is good news but when we delve a bit deeper it is clear that what is actually happening is that four families a day are losing their home and those that are being offered a deal are facing a delayed debt as they grow older or simply having their arrears accounted for as capital."

(CD/JP)