The Government has been slammed over its housing policy following the rise in the number of homeless people in Co Louth.

Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams was commenting after a report from the Department of Housing Planning and Local Government revealed a near 12% increase, on the previous month, in the number of people experiencing homelessness in Louth.

He said: "123 people were homeless in Louth in July, up from 110 in June. 13 more people in our community have fallen into homelessness in the space of one month.

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"The worsening crisis shows that the government is all at sea when it comes to addressing the crisis. Not enough is being done to prevent people from slipping into homelessness.

"The uncertainty and sky high rents in the private sector, coupled with landlords terminating tenancies because they are selling, is a huge part of the problem.

"The Minister must reconsider the Focus Ireland amendment to the Residential Tenancies Act that Fine Gael and its partners in government Fianna Fáil refused to support last year. The amendment limits the circumstances where a landlord can seek vacant possession of a home they intend to sell. Adopting this measure could potentially help a number of people stay in their homes."

(CD/LM)