There are over 35,000 empty housing units in Dublin at the moment, according to The Simon Community.

The homelessness charity revealed the shocking figure this week, while highlighting that there are still 3,247 people living in emergency accommodation in the area.

A spokesperson said that there are 27 empty houses in Ireland for every person currently in emergency accommodation and called on the Government to put more pressure on local authorities to fill vacant units.

The figure is based on the 2016 Census and does not include holiday homes or derelict buildings.

Minister Simon Coveney has committed to “a very significant level of new investment in housing” in 2017, adding that dealing with Ireland's homelessness problem was an "absolute priority".

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