Sinn Féin is calling for more money to be invested in the building, buying and renovation of social housing in Ireland.

The party made the call after the report by the Housing Agency highlighted that there was sufficient land available for development to meet demand.

Sinn Féin Dublin City Councillor Daithí Doolan said: "The report clearly shows that there is a very serious need to increase investment in social housing and the time for that investment is now. This need is underlined by the report's conclusion that the construction of housing is relatively affordable at this time and there is sufficient land available for development.

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"Dublin City Council in particular has sufficient land at present to provide thousands of homes while there is space for a total over 400,000 on currently zoned land throughout the state. Trends show that cost will likely only increase so swift action to provide housing is needed.

"The report lays out clearly the very high demand for housing at all levels from low to middle income families. This demand is not being met currently, so rents have risen beyond the reach of many workers and well over 100,000 people are on housing waiting lists across the state, while 1,000 children sleep in emergency accommodation each night. The report also finds this demand shows no signs of decreasing and so housing must be provided as a matter of priority.

"It is important that we take the time to review our housing system, to determine demand and to help us to plan for the future but this information cannot be allowed to simply gather dust."

(CD)