Twelve families were forced to present to garda stations in Dublin this week after being left with nowhere to sleep for the night.
According to homelessness charity
Focus Ireland, the families usually source hotel or B&B accommodation on a night-by-night basis - which is then paid for by Dublin City Council.
However, on this occasion, the families could not find any available beds and all emergency homeless hostels were also booked up.
According to
The Irish Times, three families ended up sleeping in Fairview Park in North Dublin, others stayed in Mountjoy Square and one slept in the offices of homeless community organisation Inner City Helping Homeless.
The situation has been described as "unprecedented and shocking" by Focus Ireland, who raised concerns that the situation would get worse over the peak tourist season.
A spokesperson for Dublin Regional Homeless Executive said that the volume of emergency beds available had been doubled and were now available to any families in need of accommodation.
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