The number of people waiting for council homes throughout Ireland has increased by 9% in a year.

Sinn Féin Housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin TD said it is according to figures received under freedom of information.

He said: "According to the data my office received on council housing waiting list figures from local authorities across the state, the number of households waiting for social housing has increased by 9% since the publication of the Social Housing Needs Assessment 2016.

"In September 2016 there were 91,600 households on Local Authority housing waiting lists.In September 2017 that number had increased to 99,555. There are now an extra 7,955 households waiting for social housing.

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"The figures show that a number of local authorities have had significant increases. For example in my own constituency South Dublin County Council has seen an increase to 8,181 households in September 2017 from 5,562 households in September 2016. That is an increase of 32%.

"In the Cork County Council local authority area the figures have increased from 4, 241 in September 2016 to 6, 948 a year later. An increase of 2,707 households or a 63% increase. In Offaly there was an increase of 540 households and in Wicklow there was an increase of 978.

"New housing need is now far outstripping new social housing provision.

"This is rise is even more troubling when you consider that this increase has occurred while an additional 18,671 households have signed up to HAP tenancies during the same period.

"When a household goes into the Housing Assistance Payment they are removed from their Councils waiting list. As HAP tenancies rise the number on the Council waiting lists should fall. Instead the opposite is happening.

"The reason is very simple. The government is not building and buying a sufficient number of social housing units to meet the every growing level of demand. This is yet further evidence that the Government's housing plan is not working."

(CD/LM)