Just under 120 people were found to be sleeping rough in the Dublin region in the official winter count conducted last month.
The count, which was arranged by the Dublin Region Homeless Executive (DRHE) and carried out by the Dublin Simon Community Outreach Team, noted there were 118 people sleeping rough in the Dublin region during the week of November 6th-12th.
The tally is up 30 per cent on 2022's official winter count, with 27 more people found to be sleeping rough compared to the same week last year.
In addition to the Dublin Simon Community Outreach Team, information was also provided by Gardaí and each of the four local authorities in the Dublin region.
Of the total figure, 94 per cent (114 people) had previously been assessed, or were assessed by a local authority during the count. The Simon Community team engaged with the four remaining people.
Of the 114 people registered with the Pathway Accommodation and Support System (PASS), the majority were male, Irish and aged 26-45.
Eighteen of those included this year had also been included in last year's count.
Just under 40 per cent were found to be using tents while sleeping rough, while 61 per cent were not.
One quarter of those included in the count had an emergency accommodation booking they did not access over the week assessed, while 11 people did avail of such accommodation during the same period.
Over the three months preceding the count, 56 per cent had an emergency accommodation booking at some point, of which 10 per cent did not present for the booking.
Dublin City Council noted that the number of people sleeping rough changes from night to night, with a core group regularly sleeping rough.
The council said a larger group alternate between sleeping rough and accessing emergency accommodation, sleeping in 'insecure accommodation', and staying with family or friends.
