Sinn Féin has hit out at the government over its approach to solving the housing crisis in Ireland.

Martin Ferris TD said the government's "inaction and indifference on the issue has become almost policy".

He said: "There are 136 vacant properties in the county. Some of these people might not be suffering as visibly as those on the streets, but the suffering goes on in separated families, the stress of overcrowding, children being aware of their plight and ashamed of it, not doing so well at school, not managing to turn up to school as well turned out as they used to be.

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"People refer to a housing crisis and some talk about a housing emergency, but the truth is that if something has been going on for as long as this, then it is no longer a crisis or an emergency, but it is a policy.

"There is cruelty and indifference on those benches and a failure to admit that if a problem persists for year after year after year, it is not just a problem anymore, but a policy. You care about the market, property rights and the rich and powerful. That is your ideology.

"You are doing nothing about the people who are homeless. Nothing tangible has changed in the past year. It is your policy that people suffer on."

(CD/MH)