Fianna Fail is urgently calling for work to start to build new social homes at O'Devaney Gardens in Dublin.

The development of the first 56 homes was supposed to have started by the end of 2017, however the contracts have not been signed for work to begin on the first phase.

Previously, Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Paschal Donohoe, described the scheme as the "most important development in the country".

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Fianna Fáil General Election candidate, Mary Fitzpatrick, said: "Earlier this week, senior officials in Dublin City Council informed me that the procurement process for the first 10% of homes under this project is not yet completed.

"It has taken years to finalise a process to begin the construction of 56 units – how long must we expect the development of the other 528 quality affordable homes to take?

"In July 2016, Government used this prime urban vacant site as a stage to launch their now failing policy on housing; Rebuilding Ireland.

"The reality is that they packed up their cameras and microphones and went back to leaving it as idle as they have for the past 10 years."

(CD/LM)