The Green Party is urging the government to "think outside the box" in relation to the current housing situation throughout Ireland.

Deputy Leader Catherine Martin TD also called on the Tánaiste to explain why only €500m of the €1.4bn housing capital budget under Rebuilding Ireland was spent on building and acquiring new units in 2017.

She said: "If €500m was spent on acquisition and building in 2017, we can only assume the remaining nearly €1 billion was spent subsidising private landlords.

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"This year, despite a pledge from Minister Eoghan Murphy that 2,284 units would be delivered in 2017, only a third of that (809 units) had been finished by the end of September. In the four Dublin local authorities, once housing units built by approved housing bodies (which the government only part-funds) and rapid builds are excluded, only 22 units were built from January to September of this year to tackle the housing list in Dublin, which currently has 40,000 people on it.

"Rather than putting money into the pockets of landlords, the Government need to start directly building social housing and cost-rental, and engage constructively with housing bodies and co-operatives."

(CD/MH)