Fr Peter McVerry has warned that there is "a catastrophe coming down the road" unless the Government completely changes its approach to the homeless crisis.

The long-time homelessness campaigner said the continued rise in homelessness is the result of the Government's "flawed ideology which cannot work."

Fr McVerry joined Jonathan Healy on The Pat Kenny Show this morning after Government figures revealed that there are now 9,891 people accessing emergency accommodation in Ireland.

He said the time for words has passed.

"We do have a national emergency and indeed six months ago, the Taoiseach admitted we have a national emergency - but what emergency action have we seen in the last six months?" he asked.

"Absolutely none.

"There is no sense of urgency in this Government. There is no sense of crisis in this Government.

"It is business as usual and 'we are doing our best' - I am just totally frustrated."

"Flawed ideology"

He said the crisis is ultimately the result of Fine Gael ideology - and the Government's insistence that the homeless and those waiting for social housing should be accommodated in the private rented sector.

"That is a flawed ideology which cannot work," he said.

"There are 36,000 households being supported by HAP (Housing Assisted Payment) in the private rented sector.

"Imagine if those 36,000 households had been given proper social housing.

"There would be no problem in the private rented sector. There would be an abundance of houses and apartments available to rent.

"The rents would drop dramatically and for those who don't qualify for social housing - they would be able to live quite comfortably in the private rented sector.

"This reliance on the private rented sector is at the core of all the problems.

Social building

He called on the Government to urgently begin building "thousands and thousands" of social houses, like the State did in the 70s and 80s.

He said authorities must also "look at all those empty building that blight every street in our cities and towns and bring them back into use."

Noting that there are currently over 43,000 mortgages in arrears of two years or more in Ireland, he said the crisis "could get much, much worse" in the coming years.

"Most of those are either going to be repossessed of sold to vulture funds and subsequently the occupants turfed out," he said.

"If even a fraction of those 43,000 repossessed houses become homeless, we won't be able to cope."

"Catastrophe"

He said Brexit is likely to put further strain on a private rented sector which is already unable to cope.

"With Brexit, the Government is hoping that hundreds if not thousands of employees will relocate to Dublin," he said.

"You could have hundreds or thousands of EU citizens who would normally have gone to Britain, find they are no longer welcome there - and they may decide to come to Ireland and they will be looking for accommodation in the private rented sector.

"This is a catastrophe coming down the road and I don't think the Government appreciates that."

No confidence

Responding to the homeless figures yesterday. the Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy admitted that any increase in homelessness is "unacceptable."

He insisted however that Government policy was working.

Both Sinn Féin and the Labour Party have said that they are considering tabling motions of no confidence in Minister Murphy over his response to the crisis.

Sinn Féin's housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin noted that the figures highlight a huge increase in homelessness year-on-year.

He said the overall figure has increased by 21% since the same month last year.

Over the same period, he said, the number of homeless families has shot up by 24% and the number of homeless children has risen by 30%.