Sinn Féin has hit out at new Taoiseach Leo Varadakar for failing to keep Simon Coveney as Housing Minister to "finish the job he started".

Minister Coveney has been appointed the new Foreign Affairs Minister, however Sinn Fein spokesperson on Housing Eoin Ó Broin TD accused the Taoiseach of not taking the housing crisis seriously.

He said: "Minister Coveney's move to Foreign Affairs is a slap in the face to the homeless families he vowed to help. He is turning his back on the people he promised to help including those languishing on social housing waiting lists, those at risk of homelessness or losing their home, those struggling with excessive rents or priced out of the first time buyers market.

"I am also deeply concerned that Taoiseach Varadkar's decision to replace his Housing Minister just twelve months into a six year Housing Action Plan means that he is not taking the housing crisis seriously.

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"If the new Taoiseach was serious about tackling the housing and homeless crisis he would have left Simon Coveney in office to finish the job he started. Now a new Minister will have to waste valuable months reading themselves into this complex brief while the number of adults and children in acute housing need continues to grow.

"Simon Coveney has been Minister for Housing for twelve months. Never has a Minister promised so much and delivered so little. In the initial months as Minister he raised peoples hopes and expectations. In the end however his legacy in housing is little more than a string of press launches and dodgy statistics. Unfortunately after a year in office the housing and homeless crisis is worse than ever.

"Homelessness has increased, as has the cost of renting and buying a home. Meanwhile social housing delivery continues at a snails pace while the number of people at risk of homelessness continues to rise. Thanks to Minister Coveney the housing crisis is worse today than when he took office."

He said the new Minister for Housing Eoghan Murphy has a "huge job on his hands".

He said: "I would urge him to listen to the growing number of housing policy experts calling for the Government to abandon their over reliance on the private sector and to significantly increase direct state provision of social and affordable homes."

(CD/MH)