The Sinn Féin leader has said Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have "manifestly failed" in addressing the housing crisis.

With polling day just days away, Mary Lou McDonald said if elected, her party would deliver a "comprehensive five-year plan" to tackle the issue of housing in Ireland.

The final Ispos poll for The Irish Times put public support for Sinn Fein at 20%, in second position behind Fianna Fáil at 21%.

Fine Gael is now placing third among the larger parties, at 19%.

When asked to address recent polls on The Pat Kenny Show, Deputy McDonald said she has met "zero percent of people" who have "any confidence in Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael sorting the housing crisis".

"I have met countless people who are chilled that Fianna Fáil would say out loud that they should have the housing minister again," she said.

"I think people looked at that prospect and said ‘There is no way on God’s green earth that we can tolerate or endure another 5 years of failure from Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael'."

The Sinn Féin leader said her party "consulted and collaborated" with every sector to deliver a housing plan.

Land Development Agency

If elected as Taoiseach, Deputy McDonald said she would repurchase the Land Development Agency and "make it fit for purpose".

"To deliver the scale of housing that is required, it does mean that you have to have that pipeline of available land, and that ought to be [the Land Development Agency's] task - they should not be the builders of homes,” she said.

Deputy McDonald stood by Sinn Féin's proposal to introduce a stamp duty exemption for first-time buyers on properties valued at €450,000 or less.

"When you’re putting your sums together to buy your first home, there are no trivial sums," she said.

Help to Buy

Deputy McDonald also said Sinn Féin would phase out the Help to Buy scheme.

"As we ramp up supply and as we deal with the affordability issue, we are going to phase that scheme out," she said.

In terms of housing supply, Deputy McDonald said the construction sector needs to focus on building homes.

"The construction workforce is a little bit higher than it was in the Celtic Tiger - it's still a very substantial workforce," she said.

"We need to redirect all of its efforts into the things that we need to build.

"I don't think we need more 'aparthotels' - I think we need more homes built."

Deputy McDonald said if Sinn Féin were to led the next Government, the party would establish a specialist workforce planning committee for the construction industry.

You can listen back here: