Rats and rodents have become 'much more visible' as a result of the recent lockdown, according to a pest control expert.
Recent months have seen an increase in complaints about rats in different parts of the country.
Last month, residents at one Dublin flat complex complained of being overrun with rats - saying the situation has "gone beyond a joke".
Meanwhile, residents from a housing estate in Co Louth say they have caught up to 100 rats there since February.
Richard Faulkner - advanced technical field consultant with Rentokil - told Newstalk Breakfast rodent infestations have always been a problem, but lockdown changed both our daily habits and the rats' behaviour.
He explained: "Because we've been locked in and more home-bound, we're seeing these things - we're usually at work. There's a lot more crossover in interaction between us and the rodents. There are environmental factors as well.
"The other thing that happened during lockdown [is] a lot of their other food services were limited. We weren't having restaurant waste or work lunch waste.
"Rodents, especially the common rat, are generally a nocturnal animal. What you find is when food becomes scarcer or their populations becomes bigger... they're going to start foraging during the day, taking risks and become much more visible.
"Especially in urban areas, drains and sewers are going to be the main place you'll find them in the environment."
Richard also had some advice for those who may be looking to prevent or deal with infestations.
He said: "When you're trying to keep something out of your house, you need to keep your doors and windows shut. You need to move your bins as far away from the house as possible.
"If you've got pets that you feed outside... just make sure after they're fed that if there's any spare food leftover that it's not left there."
He also said infestations can be disturbed when people begin moving the likes of woodpiles or cutting back vegetation that haven't been dealt with in a while.
