The rise in the number of homeless expectant and new mothers has been described as "shocking", by the Labour Party.

The party's spokesperson on housing Jan O'Sullivan called for the issue to be urgently addressed following the report on 'Morning Ireland'.

She said: "The significant rise in the number of pregnant women accessing homeless hostels is really shocking, with 27 pregnant women in De Paul's accommodation in 2017 and 9 already to date in 2018.

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"Ensuring that new born babies and their mothers have a home to call their own should be our number one priority.

"The Labour Party's Homeless Families Bill that passed second stage in the Dáil in November would require Local Authorities to recognise the rights of a child in a family unit when applying for accommodation or other assistance, which are currently not explicitly recognised under the Housing Acts.

"Under the current Housing Acts, children have no individual rights in the context of homelessness- the needs of one or both parents may be assessed, but there is no legislation to make sure homeless families have rights as a family unit."

(CD/LM)