Campaigners for the homeless have warned that the slowdown in the construction sector may lead to a significant increase in homelessness among foreign workers.
Groups such as Focus Ireland say that while most migrants who lose their jobs will return home, even a small proportion without the resources to pay their rent are in increasing danger of becoming homeless.
Focus Ireland's chief executive Declan Jones said homeless service providers had experienced a rise in demand for services in recent months among foreign workers who had lost their jobs or were unable to find work.
"In short, this could lead to a crisis in this area as services/ housing would be even further overstretched. All we need is 300 or 400 people in Dublin, for instance, not to return home and we'll have a rough sleeping crisis," Mr Jones said.
"We're very concerned about it, particularly over the coming winter months and the predictions for a further economic slow-down. It's the lower-skilled and lower-paid foreign workers who will bear the brunt of this."
The main voluntary organisations involved in meeting the needs of homeless people estimate there are up to 5,000 people without a home in Ireland. Most recent official figures show over 43,000 households are on social housing waiting lists.
Focus Ireland, meanwhile, has launched a campaign to try to break down stereotypes around homelessness, and encourage people to contact their local TDs to voice support for social housing and homeless services.
The campaign, accompanied by a radio and TV advertising campaign, is aimed at building public and political support to tackle and prevent homelessness.
Mr Jones said: "History has shown us that social problems are only effectively tackled when placed firmly on the social and political agenda and they can achieve widespread support for long-term solutions to be implemented. We believe we must work hard to create a better understanding of the issues among people to generate this support."
The campaign explains some of the reasons that cause people to become homeless, and acts to break down stereotypes around the issue, such as that people choose to be homeless or that homelessness is an unavoidable social problem.
"There can be a very negative view of social housing and homeless services, but our experience has shown that if there is good planning and a spirit of support these services can be of benefit to the local community and provide homes for people who really need them," Mr Jones said.
Homeless campaigners say the Government's latest target for social housing output will fall well short of meeting the needs of people on housing waiting lists.
They say the current output is already falling short of targets outlined in a National Economic and Social Council (NESC) report which found that an increase of 73,000 net social housing units between 2005 and 2012 was needed to tackle the backlog on the waiting lists.
