The Labour Party will seek public support for its housing policies in the new year by means of a national petition.
Labour Party members throughout the State will be seeking signatures from the public in January. The party said the petition would be aimed "at pressurising the Government into tackling the housing crisis in a realistic manner".
The completed petition is likely to be given to the Government by the end of February. The Labour Party spokesman on the environment, Mr Eamon Gilmore, said the Government's response to the housing crisis had been characterised by "denial, delay and deficiency".
He said the party's campaign on housing would include a private member's Bill to strengthen the rights of tenants in the private rented sector. Among the policies proposed by Labour are the construction of 50,000 new local authority houses, the introduction of controls on new house prices and enactment of a constitutional right to housing.
