Emergency accommodation was provided last night to all International Protection applicants seeking shelter who were sleeping rough near the International Protection Office during the heavy snow fall, according to the Green Party Senator Pauline O'Reilly.
Around 100 asylum seekers were sleeping in tents around the International Protection Office off Mount Street in Dublin city centre.
"It’s my understanding that anybody who was seeking accommodation last night at Mount Street did get emergency accommodation.
"I think that’s very important that there’s always an amount of emergency accommodation there for those that are most vulnerable and that kicked into place," Ms O’Reilly said.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Saturday with Colm Ó Mongáin, Ms O’Reilly said an outreach effort was made to ensure that everyone seeking emergency accommodation was reached.
"I think every effort is being made to deal with these crises and I just want to thank those involved in it," she said.
She added: "But obviously we know that this is an ongoing issue and I do think that now we need to see that longer-term plan that we’ve been talking about and that the Department [of Integration] wants."
Ms O’Reilly said that if low temperatures persist then she expects to see "the same kind of emergency response" as was seen yesterday.
"But long-term we do need to see that State accommodation and that agreement across Government to put in place those longer-term plans," she said.
Meanwhile, around 30 or 40 international protection applicants remained in tents close to the International Protection Office this afternoon.
However, one man who had come back to check his tent and pick up some belongings today, said more than 80 people had boarded a bus to avail of emergency accommodation in Dublin last night, following the snowfall and freezing temperatures yesterday.
He said he was glad to have been able to use the warmer facilities there and take a shower. Others opted to stay in their tents last night or returned during the day today.
Met Éireann says tonight will be cold and frosty with some icy stretches developing, as temperatures fall to between -2 and +3 degrees.
Temperatures on Sunday night are also predicted to fall quickly after dark under clear skies with frost and lows of -1 degrees.
Accommodation offered on 'emergency basis'
A charity providing healthcare to homeless people says accommodation was offered to everyone sleeping in tents outside the International Protection Office in the cold weather last night on an emergency basis, and that this was for three nights throughout the weekend.
Dr Fiona O'Reilly, CEO of Safetynet Primary Care said some of the accommodation was for overnight only, which meant that some people were back in the city centre during the day.
She said the charity, along with IPAS (International Protection Accommodation Services), had worked late into the night last night to make sure that anyone who wanted to get out of the cold could do so. However she said, it was a detailed process as everyone had to be checked and verified against lists compiled by IPAS.
"People were desperate to get out of the cold and onto the buses," she said. Everyone's identity had to be checked before they could board the buses which went to two main accommodation sites in CityWest and Dundrum in Dublin. Other short-term accommodation was eventually sourced near Dublin Airport.
She said some people may have stayed where they were last night, over fears that they could lose their tents, due to the temporary nature of the accommodation on offer. However, Dr O'Reilly said she hoped this emergency cold weather effort could be used as an opportunity to move people on from the tented accommodation around Mount Street.
"A huge effort was made by everyone involved, including IPAS, to get people off the streets," she said.
