It has emerged that a young woman sleeping rough has been spending her nights in a tumble dryer in Dublin.

Streetlink Homeless Support revealed how the woman was sleeping in an industrial-sized tumble dryer outside a garage on the capital's northside.

With more than 11,600 people currently homeless, Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon says it's a "crisis of unimaginable proportions".

He told Newstalk that it's a heartbreaking case of homelessness, and has blamed it on the State's lack of intervention.

"It's devastating in terms of the imagery, the heartbreak, the pain of that choice that a person on the streets of Dublin have to make is just incomprehensible", he said.

"It touches every human sense you have. I think my heart broke for the woman."

"Successive governments haven't got a handle on the homeless crisis at all and that's being witnessed in these truly tragic stories."

The tent of a homeless person living on the streets of Dublin City. Credit: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie

Hidden homeless

Despite the soaring numbers, Deputy Gannon says the figures alone don't illustrate the true scale of the crisis.

"How many people do we know who are sleeping on their auntie's couches or living four to a room or with a relative", he asked.

"We have an absolute crisis of unimaginable proportions that are occurring in this city with regards to the absence of a home."

"This government and the government before have showed no stomach for the fight."

Housing Minister Daragh O'Brien said in response to recent figures: "We’ve more than €215m in budget 2023, an increase of 10% on last year, for the delivery of homeless services."

"This will ensure that local authorities can not only provide emergency accommodation, but importantly support households to successfully exit homelessness and prevent entries into homelessness in the first instance.”

Main image shows a person wrapped in a sleeping bag in Dublin city centre in January 2021. Picture by: Leah Farrell / RollingNews.ie