Sinn Féin's Peadar Tóibín has hit out at the government over its failure to convert vacant buildings into new homes.

The West Meath TD said: "In the middle of the most grievous housing crisis in generations this government itself is one of the largest owners of vacant buildings, homes and land in the country and is doing precious little to resolve it.

"Three years ago I submitted a Parliamentary Question and found that government departments and state agencies were presiding over thousands of acres of vacant lands and buildings totalling 155,000sq foot standing idle.

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"This did not include land that was owned by NAMA. It did include previous government follies such as Thornton Hall where in 2005 a 150-acre site was bought for €50m by the then Justice Minister Michael McDowell to build a 1,400-cell prison."

Mr Tóibín submitted another PQ on the same issues a few weeks ago and was disappointed by the reaction.

"Their response was again incomplete, but it showed something very sinister.

"In the heart of this homelessness disaster the vast majority of those same land banks and empty buildings today remain vacant, empty and derelict," he concluded.

(CM)