"Emergency arrangements" were being made to provide temporary for shelter over the weekend for international protection applicants who are currently sleeping rough, the Department of Integration has said.
It comes after the Irish Refugee Council said there was "real concern" for people staying in tents in Dublin city centre during the cold weather conditions.
Around 100 asylum seekers were sleeping in tents around the International Protection Office off Mount Street in Dublin city centre.
This evening they were transported to alternative accommodation as an emergency measure for the weekend due to the current extreme weather.
The Department of Integration has said it already has a priority list of recently arrived male asylum seekers who have been identified as rough sleepers, following referrals from gardaí or homeless or other support services.
Chief Executive of the Irish Refugee Council Nick Henderson visited those staying in the tents and said: "The snow that had fallen was causing many of the tents to collapse".
Speaking to RTÉ’s News at One, he said the IRC already had concerns about the people in the tents but "seeing the conditions there this morning only heightened our concern".
Mr Henderson said that Department of Integration officials were due to visit the site and collect names to take people to emergency accommodation over the weekend.
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He said that those who are homeless will generally move around the city to try to take cover or sleep in overnight cafés.
Mr Henderson said others have been travelling outside of Dublin as they did not feel the city centre was safe.
He said that most likely there would be more than one person in a tent and called for items like thermal blankets, portaloos and better-quality tents to improve the situation.
Mr Henderson said that the number of homeless asylum seekers was increasing.
Snow on the tents of homeless International Protection Applicants this morning pic.twitter.com/fNfG14zhg0
— Laura Fletcher (@fletchl) March 1, 2024
"We don’t believe that the Government’s current response is in any way adequate either to deal with the issues arising day to day, but also trying to resolve and end this situation," he said.
Mr Henderson added: "People who are in this situation don't have automatic access to emergency homeless services.
"We have written to the Dublin Region Homeless Executive and councils in the area asking, regardless of the cold weather and snow, what supports will be put in place to support the situation around the Mount Street area".
A total of 1,103 international protection applicants are without an offer of State-accommodation, according to the latest official figures.
In total, 1,571 eligible male international protection applicants have presented since 4 December last year.
According to the figures, 185 people were offered accommodation after an availability and vulnerability triage.
In a statement, Dublin Region Homeless Executive said its extreme weather protocol is currently in place which sets out the coordinated response activated during extreme weather conditions or adverse events.
However a spokesperson confirmed that it has no role in providing accommodation to asylum seekers who are sleeping rough.
"The remit for the accommodation of applicants seeking international protection lies with the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) and any queries regarding accommodation for asylum seekers should be directed to them," the spokesperson said.
Earlier this evening, Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore said she was incredibly upset and angry when she saw the tents that were flattened by the snow in Dublin city centre.
She said it was a political choice, and was inhumane to leave these people out on the streets when they come here seeking refuge.
Speaking on RTÉ's Drivetime, the Wicklow TD said this was made even more so when there are nearly 5,000 empty beds within the IPAS and Ukrainian refugee system.
A wealthy country like Ireland not being in a position to provide moral and legal obligations was a sign of a system that is failing, she said, adding that Ireland now needs to see a plan for how the Government are going to deal with this.
Meanwhile, Fianna Fáil MEP Barry Andrews said that there are empty beds in the accommodation system but they are being kept empty in anticipation that there will be male international protection applicants that are vulnerable (in City West), such as older men, injured men or those of a young age.
Speaking on the same programme, he said that the Government was in a contract with accommodation providers for the purpose of the temporary protection directive, and this cannot be used for anything else unless the provider agrees.
He said that the other spare capacity (not in City West) was in anticipation of women, families and children coming in over the next few weeks.
Mr Andrews added that the beds were there as forward planning for what the Government knows is coming, but he did not think that those beds would solve this current problem.
He added that it was not a political choice being made.
He confirmed that the Department of Integration was working on a very short term response to the circumstances that happened overnight that were not anticipated.
