Sinn Féin has described the private rented sector in Ireland as "completely dysfunctional".

The party's housing spokesperson, Eoin Ó Broin, made the announcement at a recent event in the Morrison Hotel in Dublin.

He said: "It is bad for tenants and bad for most landlords. The government's decision to produce a long term strategy for the rental strategy is welcome though long overdue.

"If the minister is serious about reforming this sector he needs to provide a long term vision as well as immediate reforms that work for both landlords and tenants.

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"At the meeting organised by the Department of Housing, I urged the minister to include in his strategy rent certainty, security of tenure, measures to professionalise the landlord sector and reforms of the tax treatment of landlords.

"The most urgent step the minister must take is legislation providing for rent certainty. The spiralling cost of rents is pushing families into poverty and in many cases homelessness. It is also bad for the economy driving wage inflation and putting off potential investment.

"In the longer term we need to grow the rental sector. This can be achieved by tackling the issue of vacant homes, increasing the supply of new builds and reducing demand on the existing stock by increasing the supply of social housing."

The party said it will make a written submission to the Department of Housing on its strategy for the rental sector.

(CD/LM)