Labour has reissued its appeal to government to progress its Homeless Families Bill following a report from the Royal College of Physicians.

The latest report covered the impact of homelessness on children, finding that just under 40% of homeless children experience 'significant' mental health or behavioural issues.

This comes on the back of the latest homeless report which showed that 3,873 children are now living in emergency accommodation.

Speaking out on the issue, Labour's Jan O'Sullivan TD said: "The reality is that many people becoming homeless are coming from the private rental sector and are being pushed out due to the extortionate cost of renting in Ireland at the moment.

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"The Government needs to freeze rents until enough homes have been built to address this crisis, and drastically ramp up the building of social and affordable homes.

"At the very least, we believe that in a crisis accommodation situation, the rights of a child should be at the heart of every decision made regarding a homeless family.

"We're again calling on the Government to progress our Homeless Families Bill which we believe would bring about a change in approach in how local authorities deal with families in this regard, and would prevent for example, a homeless family being placed in a Garda station overnight as has happened in the past.

"The housing and homelessness crisis is one of the biggest issues facing the country at present and is having a harmful effect on our children. It needs to be treated with the urgency it requires."

(CM/JG)