Housing Minister Simon Coveney is being urged to reverse his decision to end the Ministerial Order under which 50% of social housing was allocated to homeless and other vulnerable households.

Sinn Féin spokesperson on Housing, Eoin Ó Broin TD, also said the creation of an additional 300 Housing First tenancies is "best described as a modest expansion and is nowhere near sufficient when you factor in that there are well over 2,000 homeless single people".

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He said: "The accelerated provision of rapid build emergency accommodation units in Ballyfermot, Drimnagh, Belcamp and Finglas, should not be delivered at the expense of permanent social housing units in these areas.

"The €70 million in funding, over three years, for the Housing Agency to purchase 1,600 vacant units isn't enough. Especially when you consider that according to the census figures for 2016 there are more 189,000 vacant units across the state, with 42,930 of these in Dublin.

"I accept that Minister Coveney has acknowledged the depth of the housing and homelessness crisis. However, re-announcing already published measures is no substitute for real action in tackling the homeless crisis."

(CD/JP)