Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy has come under severe criticism after failing to respond to new reports on latent defect cases.

A series of new cases, as reported by the Irish Times, were found in Blackrock, Dublin and in Oak Grove, Kildare.

Sinn Féin representative Eoin Ó Broin TD has hit out at Minister Murphy and urged him to stop "burying his head in the sand".

The party's housing spokesperson also called on the Minister to reconsider the proposals made in the Sinn Féin Bill and the cross-party committee report, Safe as Houses.

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He explained: "A key recommendation of the Safe as Houses report was that a latent defects redress scheme should be established to help homeowners facing bills for remediation works on their homes.

"Sinn Féin followed this up with the publication of the Latent Defects Redress Bill 2019. This Bill establishes a redress scheme to assist homeowners in remedying issues, such as fire safety and other structural defects that have been uncovered in their homes."

Deputy Ó Broin added: "I will be seeking a meeting with Fianna Fáil and other opposition spokespersons on this Bill in order to get cross party support for the proposals.

"Minister Murphy and Fine Gael can no longer stand idly by as ordinary homeowners with latent defects struggle to find solutions on their own."

(CM/JG)