The Minister of State for Integration Joe O'Brien has said the Government needs to get homeless asylum seekers off the streets and into accommodation.
There are currently 582 recently arrived international protection applicants without State-provided accommodation.
A growing number of those are sleeping rough and there is now an informal settlement of more than 30 tents sheltering homeless asylum seekers near the International Protection Office in Dublin 2.
Speaking on The Week in Politics, Mr O'Brien said it "is a very grave situation, it's a very serious situation".
"We need to get those people off the streets, that's the bottom line," said Mr O'Brien.
On 21 April, the High Court declared the Minister for Children's failure to provide "material reception conditions" to an Afghan asylum seeker left homeless when he arrived in this State as unlawful.
Mr Justice Charles Meenan acknowledged that "there have been numerous other similar applications" to the court and said that the case was being treated as a "lead case" to identify the legal issues and entitlements.
Mr O'Brien said that a Cabinet sub committee met last week "in preparation for the Government's response to the court case".
"We take this situation of 500 people who we weren't able to accommodate very very seriously and those who are on the streets at the moment, we really need to get them off [the streets] urgently," he said.
Mr O'Brien said that the State has gone from accommodating over 8,000 international protection applicants 12 months ago to over 80,000 Ukrainian refugees and international protection applicants now.
Speaking on the same programme, Independent TD Verona Murphy asked Minister O'Brien why they had not made a compulsory purchase order on vacant buildings such as Jurys hotel in Ballsbridge.
"They are solutions," Ms Murphy said.
Mr O'Brien said such options had been examined and "these are all more complicated than they look on the surface".
Labour TD Ged Nash said it was "a poor reflection on our society, a rich modern society that we can't fulfil our international obligations".
"These people are entitled to reasonable accommodation in this country and, as I say, it's a poor reflection that we cannot seem to be able to do that," Mr Nash said.
Sinn Féin TD Pádraig Mac Lochlainn said that he hoped accommodation could be found, but said it was challenging.
"It is a massive challenge, and then you have to find the balance of engaging with local communities, looking at the whole issue of school places, GP places, so make sure there is that dialogue and respect with communities," Mr Mac Lochlainn said.
