Update: 'If you can't attack them on the policy, you attack the person' Murphy hits back at Sinn Féin
The Housing Minister has accused Sinn Féin of being 'reckless' with their latest attack on him.
Eoghan Murphy says the opposition party is hurling personal insults and using PR stunts to attempt to bring down the Government.
Sinn Féin is calling for Minister Murphy to resign after he over-estimated new home builds.
The CSO revealed 53,000 properties were completed over the last 8 years - 30,000 less than the Housing Minister expected.
Sinn Féin is now threatening to put forward a no-confidence motion in Minister Murphy - but he says it has nothing to do with housing.
"They're focused on personalities. I'm focused on policy and on progress and progress is being made," said the Dublin Bay South TD.
"And Sinn Féin don't want to admit that. They don't want to accept the facts that we have, like from the CSO.
"They want to turn a blind face to that and they want to make these kind of populist charges - it's very reckless.
"It's typically opposition politics. If you can't attack them on the policy, you attack the person.
Sinn Féin has issued an ultimatum to Fine Gael over the housing figures.
The party warned it will be forced to bring a motion of no confidence in Minister Eoghan Murphy if he will not resign.
Spokesman Eoin Ó'Broin (below) says Sinn Féin is not worried about triggering an election.
"That wouldn't prevent us from tabling a motion of no confidence, but we would be very clear in doing so in saying that this minister is not capable, is not confident, is not making things better and should go.
"If Leo Varadkar wants to bring down the Government and fight an election on that basis, that's his call."
The Government is being criticised for including ghost-estates and halting sites in its figures for home builds.
Department of Housing estimates were shown
