More needs to be done on homelessness - Catholic bishops

Irish Catholic Bishops have lashed out at the Government over its handling of the homeless crisis.

It follows their autumn meeting at which a report by the Bishops' Commission for Social Issues and International Affairs was discussed.

The report highlighted the continuing rise in the number of people seeking emergency accommodation across the island of Ireland.

The bishops described the continuing crisis as "a blight" on society and that reacting to a crisis was both costly and ineffective.

The Bishops' Conference has said more needs to be done to tackle the crisis.

"It is a failure of government and public policy at all levels for not providing one of the most basic human rights of people: the right to a home."