The Government has been accused of "failing to grasp" the seriousness of the homelessness crisis throughout Ireland.

Sinn Féin spokesperson on Housing Eoin Ó Broin TD said the govt has failed to target enough turnkey homes offered by the banks to the Government for purchase.

Recently, Minister for Housing Eoghan Murphy confirmed in response to a parliamentary question that of the 1,114 vacant properties held by three banks, PTSB, Bank of Ireland, and AIB, to date 259 property purchases have been closed.

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Mr Ó Broin said: "By failing to purchase not even a quarter of the properties offered to it at a discount by publicly funded banks, the government is effectively disregarding the urgency of this crisis.

"Late last year, the government was aware how many of these homes were available and still only provided the Housing Agency with €70m in funding to purchase these properties. While I am sure some of these properties are not suitable for social housing purchases, it is hard to believe that only 23% of them are.

"As of the end of June 2017, the PQ response stated that the Housing Agency has signed contracts for 362 dwellings and they have bids on for a further 100 homes. This combined is still less than half of what the government was offered.

"The lack of action by the government shows how it is not treating the family homelessness crisis with the urgency it deserves. With over 1000 families homeless, acquiring these discounted houses is the quickest way of putting a permanent roof over their heads."

(CD/LM)