The Minister for Housing is being urged to launch a winter ban on evictions throughout Ireland immediately.

Sinn Féin spokesperson on Housing Eoin Ó Broin TD made the call to Minister Darragh O'Brien and added that any delay in the introduction of the eviction ban will result in hundreds more adults and children being forced into homelessness.

Teachta Ó Broin said: "I am concerned by some reports suggesting that a ban, if introduced, would not take effect until December.

"Any delay in the introduction of the eviction ban will result in hundreds more adults and children being forced into homelessness.

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"However, a temporary ban on evictions will not solve the core problem, which is the government's failure to deliver an adequate supply of social and genuinely affordable homes.

"Minister O’Brien must accompany any ban on evictions with a package of measures to accelerate and increase the delivery of public housing to meet social and affordable housing need.

"Any such package must do more to bring vacant units back into stock. It must include the delivery of high quality permanent modular homes. It must increase the purchase of private rental homes with HAP and RAS tenants in place and at risk of eviction. And it must cut the red tape and bureaucracy that is slowing down the delivery of much needed social homes.

"With the official homeless figure set to breach the 11,000 mark in a matter of days, and the real figure significantly higher than that, government must accept that its approach to date has failed and respond with greater urgency if a winter catastrophe is to be averted."