The Housing Minister has been slammed for leaving out urban areas in the North West of Ireland in the government's housing plan.

Fianna Fáil TD for Sligo-Leitrim Marc Mac Sharry confirmed sites have been identified in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Galway, however the North West has not been included.

He said: "I have consistently highlighted the need for investment in this region, but time and time again Ministers have turned a blind eye. How are we to attract Foreign Direct Investment into the area when we don't have the infrastructure to support it.

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"Housing is one of the key factors that potential investors will look at and rents in the North West have risen by more than 6% in the past year. This rate of increase is unsustainable and will do nothing to entice new business to the region. There needs to be an overarching strategy for the North West region to address the two-tier recovery which has been perpetrated by Fine Gael over the past 5 years. Proper housing provision must be a key strand of this policy.

"Unfortunately the details of this latest plan make for grim reading for anyone living in the North West with only the cities making it on to the fast track planning list. This is simply not good enough and will create major problems down the road."