Sinn Fein has hit out at the Housing Minister for not grasping the gravity of the homeless crisis.

The party's housing spokesperson Deputy Ó Broin said Minister Eoghan Murphy's housing summit was "nothing more than a PR exercise".

He said: "It is clear that the Minister has not grasped the gravity of the homeless crisis. It is also clear that the Government does not have the political will to implement the policies required to get the housing crisis under control.

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"Tenants at risk of homelessness do not need their landlords to notify the RTB when issuing a Notice to Quit. They need the Government to limit the grounds on which landlords can evict in order to keep them in their homes.

"Shifting the capital spending focus from acquisitions to future Council build will do nothing to get families who are spending up to two years in emergency accommodation into permanent housing. Houses are needed now, not in two years' time.

"While some of the measures announced this evening are welcome they do not amount to any meaningful change of policy direction. Unfortunately many of the announcements are meaningless commitments designed to give the impression of action where none exists.

"Minister Murphy's statement will give little comfort to the 8000 adults and children who will tonight sleep another night in emergency accommodation."

(CD/LM)