The Dublin Region Homeless Executive received more than 300 complaints in the first ten months of last year.
Documents released to RTÉ under the Freedom of Information Act show that one third of the complaints came from residents living in emergency accommodation, but the majority were made by those providing emergency accommodation.
Concerns about child protection, violence, drugs, mental health and poor living conditions in emergency accommodation were among the issues that were raised with the body.
More than 36% of complaints were made by people living in emergency accommodation, but 64% came from those providing it, such as hotels and B&Bs.
Many of the complaints by residents were about conditions, with infestations, outbreaks, damp and fire hazards reported.
Drug use and drug dealing in places that were housing children also features.
The majority of complaints came from those providing emergency accommodation, with the welfare of children staying with them one of their greatest concerns.
The mental health of some residents was also raised, and there are numerous reports of violent and criminal behaviour taking place on their premises.
The Dublin Region Homeless Executive has said it is learning from complaints, standards have improved in the past year and the introduction of new accommodation like Family Hubs is allowing it to be more selective about where it sends its clients.
The Director of Advocacy with Focus Ireland, Mike Allen, has said the Homeless Executive is responding very quickly and very rigourously to complaints raised about emergency accommodation.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Six One programme, he said that while there are indications of some improvements in the supply of accommodation, things are not getting better on the frontline.
He said the underlying problem is getting worse and the number of households looking for somewhere to live is growing significantly faster than the number of houses being built.
Mr Allen said that, unfortunately, his organisation believes the numbers are going to continue to grow unless the Government acts more urgently than it is.
He said the Homeless Executive will be forced to use unsuitable accommodation for some time to come.
