Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy has been called to expand the number of Housing First tenancies to 1,000, beyond the target of 300 set for 2017.

Sinn Féin made the call after figures revealed a significant drop in the number of people sleeping rough in Dublin.

Deputy Ó Broin said: "There are now 40% less rough sleepers than there were in Winter 2017 and 30% less than last Spring. This represents real progress.

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"Additional investment in emergency accommodation and the cold weather events resulted in a welcome reduction. However, this trend must continue.

"We also need to ensure that people are moved from emergency beds into the Housing First programme as soon as possible.

"Housing First is recognised as a permanent solution to rough sleeping that provides housing for homeless people with complex needs first instead of focusing on treatment first."

(CD/LM)