The number of families accessing homeless services in Dublin reached record levels last month, Focus Ireland has said.

According to figures released by the housing charity, 77 families became homeless during July, 70 of whom had never been homeless before. These families included more than 150 children.

Between January and July of this year, a total of 466 families became homeless - this is almost the same as the overall figure for 2014.

Earlier this week, the charity highlighted the case of a family with three young children who were forced to sleep rough in Dublin because the homeless central placement unit was unable to accommodate them.

It noted that in July, ‘at least five families' were forced to sleep rough, with one family living in a tent.

The charity said that the homeless crisis among families is ‘getting out of control and must now be responded to as a national emergency by the Government'.

"Let us be crystal clear here. We are talking about fathers and mothers being left sleeping in cars with their children or even on a bench on the street. We do all we can to prevent this but I am sure anyone would agree this situation is not only untenable, it is also totally unacceptable," commented the charity's director of advocacy, Mike Allen.

He said that the Government needs to send a clear directive to all local authorities that if a family is assessed as being homeless, emergency accommodation must be found for the night.

The costs arising from this need to be funded separately from the annual homelessness budget, he added.