Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said the housing and homelessness issue will not be solved in the lifetime of this Government.

Speaking on TV3's Tonight with Vincent Browne, he said while a real need remained, the State was accelerating the construction of social housing.

He said the Government would publish a National Development Plan before the end of the year which would set out capital investment in the region of €80 billion over ten years.

The Government was looking at the existing plan of buying and leasing houses off the private sector, he said, and perhaps changing this to building more houses instead.

He also said he wanted penalties for people who leave houses vacant in areas where there is high demand for housing.

Mr Varadkar said he believes people in receipt of the minimum wage are "middle Ireland".

Meanwhile, Threshold's regional services manager for the west has said investment is needed in measures to prevent people from becoming homeless.

Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Diarmuid O'Sullivan said money would be better spent on helping people to stay in their homes rather than spending money on emergency accommodation facilities.

His comments come following the publication of a report by the charity which found that the west of Ireland is facing what it describes as an escalating housing and homelessness crisis.

Threshold says homelessness in the west is no longer a phenomenon confined to Galway city and warns of severe housing shortages in towns such as Loughrea, Ballinasloe, Tuam, Castlebar, Westport and Roscommon Town.

The charity is operating a new tenancy protection service in the west. It says over 1,000 people, including more than 400 children, were prevented from becoming homeless as a result of help and intervention from the scheme.

Mr O'Sullivan said the service is important as in Threshold's view landlords do not always comply with the law and it helps tenants enforce their rights.

He said measures such as ensuring the private rented sector is fit for purpose, the upholding and enforcing of safeguards for tenants and security of tenure are what is needed to ensure people can stay in their homes.