Plans have been unveiled to increase the level of public housing and repurpose NAMA to provide affordable housing for sale and rent by Labour.

The proposals are part of the party's Alternative Budget 2018 and aim to tackle the homelessness issue.

Spokesperson on Housing, Jan O'Sullivan TD, said: "With supply at an all-time low, the State needs to pick up the slack from where developers have simply stopped building, or are sitting on land waiting for prices to rise.

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"The Government's current target is to deliver over 5,000 public houses. This includes 3,800 newly built homes, with the remainder to be delivered through Part V and the refurbishment of old stock.

"But this is simply not enough given the current stalled phase of construction.

"To tackle this, the Labour Party is proposing to commit an extra €964m to deliver an additional five thousand homes next year. This would deliver three thousand houses and two thousand apartments of various sizes.

"Labour's plan would bring the provision of social housing in 2018 to nearly 11,000 homes.

"It's projected that NAMA will have more than €3b when it completes its work in 2020. Instead of winding it down, Labour wants to broaden NAMA's remit to provide social and affordable housing, as well as rebranding it as the National Housing and Development Agency."

(CD/LM)