The government has been accused of hiding behind "official" figures in an attempt to spin its success, according to Sinn Fein.

Housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin TD also called on Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy to abandon the current misleading data source of ESB meter connection data to officially count new homes.

A Goodbody report indicates that only 8,659 new homes were built during the first 11 months of 2017 compared to the government claim of over 17,000. The Goodbody data is based on BER ratings not ESB meter connections.

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Deputy Ó Broin said: "Paschal Donohoe's reported recent claim that 17,000 new homes were built last year mirrors Simon Coveney's controversial claim in 2016 that house completions had reached 15,000 per year.

"This myth was quickly dispelled by academics and experts who estimated that the real figure was half that.

"During a meeting of the Housing Committee last March I attempted again to get to the root of why there are so many disparities in the housing completion statistics. I am still no wiser as to how many how many homes were actually completed in 2016.

"The government wants to build 25,000 new homes every year to 2021. We need to able to accurately measure the progress being made."

(CD/LM)