The Housing Minister is being urged to "release funds immediately" to build new social homes in Co Louth.

Sinn Fein TD Imelda Munster called on Minister Eoghan Murphy to allocate funding to develop social houses after it was revealed that Louth County Council owns over 50 acres of land banks which are currently lying barren.

She said: "My question now is if money is no object and the council already has ownership of the land, when will a building programme begin? There are over 4,000 people on the housing waiting list in Co. Louth. In fact there are more people on the waiting list than there are council-owned dwellings in the county. Some of these people have been on the list for almost a decade. The government needs to get moving and start building houses."

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Minister Murphy responded to Deputy Munster, saying that letters are to be sent to all TDs and councillors and to all local authority chief executives regarding social housing targets.

Deputy Munster continued: "People need houses, not letters. People have been waiting for years, while land banks sit there, unused, for over a decade. People are sick of waiting, while the housing crisis continues to escalate. I hope the Minister gets his act together and releases funding immediately."

(CD/LM)