Homeless and Housing charities have expressed serious concern about census figures released today, that show Ireland has almost 200-thousand vacant homes.

When holiday homes are included, almost 13 per cent of houses in the state are lying empty.

The Peter McVerry Trust said urgent action is needed to bring homes back into use.

Niamh Randall of the homeless charity Simon says the government must bring more homes into use:
David Silke of The Housing Agency says we must find out why properties are vacant, and develop a strategy to reduce vacancies: