10,148 people are officially homeless in Ireland, according to the latest figures.
The February stats show a drop of 123 on January and include over 3,500 children.
The numbers relate to the period before the Covid-19 emergency.
It comes as Dublin City Council says it is looking at taking over a number of apartments and houses which lie empty after the collapse of the short-term rental market, such as Airbnb.
Wayne Stanley is from the Simon Community;
"Absolutely we should be capturing these properties and providing people with homes and really seeing a reduction in those numbers. So I do expect to see a reduction in the numbers next month but whether in the context of post the covid crisis the numbers will go straight back up again, we don't know yet."
Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy says local authorities and NGOs have been working hard to ensure there's extra capacity in emergency accommodation, to allow self-isolation where needed;
“More than 600 new places have been secured, with more to come if necessary. I have guaranteed local authorities additional funding to support this work.”
